I'd picked up the physical book years ago after having it recommended for boys/reluctant readers ... which my sons were. None of them got around to reading this, nor did I. Until now, #middlegrademay2025 ... a personal challenge to read mostly middle grade for the month, and especially to get to any unread MG books on my personal shelves.

I liked this a lot - it jumped right into the action with the Prologue being a scene a little later in the book. Then with Ch1, it shifted back a bit in time to build to that point (in Ch8) then continues on. The main character is 12-year old Mikhail, and it's told in 1st person from his perspective (past tense). 

I've read a ton of WW2 books, and I don't know that I'd really seen this issue (dogs, especially "GERMAN" shepherds) so that was interesting to learn more about (in the fiction story and in the author's notes afterward).