Alexi's secret mission

by Anita Deyneka

Because of their religious beliefs, a family is exiled to Siberia. There they engage in the distribution of Bibles.

Genres: School, Family, Christian, Childrens

126 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Luisa Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've read or heard of the book, God's Smuggler , here is the children's equivalent!

Although the story is fiction, it is based off of real accounts that the author heard of during her visits behind Russia's Iron Curtain in the 70's. You'll learn of the hardships of being a Christian in an atheistic, communist country, and just how valuable Bibles are to the Christians there. A well told, nicely paced book for family read-aloud and discussion!

Note: while I completely admire and applaud the Christians who live in such hard situations and their courageous acts to bring Bibles to others in need, I am not of the opinion that absolute honesty and transparency is necessary when being questioned by communist police (See Exodus 1). This does happen in the book so could be a discussion for your family.

This is the second of two books. Here is the first.

Ages: 7+

**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!

So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! You’ll see my updates as I’m reading and know which books I’m liking and what I’m not finishing and why. You’ll also be able to utilize my library for looking up titles to see whether the book you’re thinking about reading next has any objectionable content or not. From swear words, to romance, to bad attitudes (in children’s books), I cover it all!

[Yibbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an adventure, but also what an exhortation to steadfast Christian service.
Young Alexi faces several challenges to his faith. Will he choose to fit in at school or obey Christ? He must later choose between his dreams and Christ. Will he do it even if there is no reward in sight?
This is one of the best Christian Children’s books I’ve ever read. It is well written, and very true to life. The protagonist isn’t perfect or even extraordinary, just a young Christian faced with hard choices. I’ve read several biographies of Christians living under exactly the same circumstances. This reads as if it could be one of those bios.

[anika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for school and loved it.

[Jemimah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was definitely a challenging story for the character, because he had to go through a struggle in the country he lived in. It is a nice and an enjoyable book to read.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this with my son as part of his school curriculum and it was life changing for us both.

[Samantha Issa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel bad for judging this book by its cover. It's one of my favorite books now. Did not expect beautiful descriptive language, and the Russian cultural idiosyncrasies were a delight to read (I could relate to it a bit because I live in a post-Soviet state). It also encouraged me a lot in my faith! Alexi's inner world as a young Christian is very painfully relatable. I also admire the strength of faith his family had.

Pavel, Alexi's hockey coach, was my favorite character. He was just so real - a true seeker, even if his role and descriptions were short compared to the others'. I was just unsatisfied with his transformation at the end, and the ending as a whole - it could've been longer; the conclusion felt so rushed. I would've liked a longer description of the resolution. Nevertheless, it was very enjoyable to read.

[Jenny Felber (Wildflower Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in one night when I needed to get out of my head and think about something different. It might be a little predictable, the main character isn’t allowed to play on the hockey team because he won’t be a Soviet Pioneer but he gets a chance to be involved in something much more meaningful and dangerous, smuggling Bibles printed on a secret illegal press!

Spoiler: he makes it through, he gets a deep meaningful friendship, his parents don’t go to prison and he sticks to his confession. Predictable but actually based on true stories! I think my preteens would read this without shrinking back from fear that the book would take them to dark scary places that they are aware were a reality for these Russian Christians. And I think they would be encouraged to follow Alexi’s example and not deny Christ, even if it means to might lose out on silent temporal.

[J. T. K. Tobin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great reminder of just how spoiled many of us are when it comes to religious freedoms.

There are places in the world where persecution of Christians is more overt, more ostentatious, and more deadly. Putting it into a children's book is great - for the purpose of introducing young Christian adults to the way some of the world works, has worked, and will work.

[Kathleen Alcantara · Rating 1 out of 5]

I cant read it

[Rui Yu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Libraryliz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed revisiting this.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Is a book of faith adventure and endurance. It tells the hope that a "biblyia" could bring into christians homes. Alexis is normal teen with dreams same as other teens, but he is a christian in a country that tries to tell people they have freedom while they repress any kind of thing that talks about God and Jesus because they represent hope in peoples hearts.
Ivan takes the road of distributin hope to other chrisians and so he feels he is more a hero than being in hockey player.
I recommend this book to teens from 12 up since they can identify themselves in the characters. Is really fun to read and entertaining.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alexi!!! So love his character, so BOLD!



II Cor. 4:5,8,9

"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed."

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ending was pretty good..... the books are christain and the people want a bible really badly... so they find a way to get one.....I am not explaining it very well.

[Abi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was such a short read. Also, I noticed the author's love of last names ending with an "ich.

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

read for school. Pretty poor, but not worthless.

[Micaiah Keough · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 stars

[Pia Fernanda]

is so very beatiful

[rzells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book as a young child and loved it.

[Jessica]

I like this book a lot. I read it for school in 6th grade and now my younger brother is reading it so I got to read it again.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book many years ago when I was in Year 3. Reading it again as an adult, I can see why I found it so interesting and enjoyable. I was at that age when your horizons begin to widen, and you realise that not everyone lives are the same as yours. So to read a story set in Russia and Siberia, with their long, cold winters blanketed in snow and long summer days was fascinating to a child living in a rural Australian town who had never even seen snow. But as a child living in a Christian family, it was also incredible to me that there were people in the world who couldn't easily get a Bible when everyone in my household had their own, or that someone could be sent to prison simply for being a Christian. So all in all, this book was an eye-opener for me and even now that it is a bit dated, it is still worthy of being read by young children. It may not be a piece of high-quality literature, but it is well written and can be easily understood by its target audience.