What If You Were on the Russian Front in World War II?: An Interactive History Adventure

By Matt Doeden

Adolf Hitler didn’t just invade Europe during World War II. He also broke a pact with Russia and invaded that country. Battles continued into the bitter cold months of winter. You’re part of the Allied Forces, trying to push the Nazis out of Russia. YOU CHOOSE how to further the cause for freedom while also battling brutal conditions. Do you have what it takes to survive?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
• Release date: Jan 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781666391077

Matt Doeden

Matt Doeden began his career as a sports writer. Since then, he's spent more than a decade writing and editing children's nonfiction. Matt lives in Minnesota with his family.

Book preview

About Your Adventure

YOU are on the front lines of World War II (1939–1945). The war started in Europe with Nazi Germany’s attack on Poland, then spread throughout the continent. By 1941, Japan had attacked the United States naval base in Hawaii on the side of the Axis powers. Japan is seeking domination in the Pacific. Now Germany is on the move. The Nazis are launching a full-scale invasion of the western part of the Soviet Union.

Nazi soldiers walking down a dirt road

German soldiers advancing on the Russian front during World War II

You are charged with defending your homeland from the invaders. How will you fight? What choices will you make? YOU CHOOSE the path to follow. Will you succeed at your mission or fail and let your country down?

Chapter One sets the scene. Then you choose which path to read. Follow the links at the bottom of each page as you read the stories. The decisions you make will change your outcome. After you finish one path, go back and read the others for new perspectives and more adventures. Use your device’s back buttons or page navigation to jump back to your last choice.

CHAPTER 1

A Looming Threat

The hum of airplane engines roars above eastern Europe. Massive tanks rumble across the landscape. Battles rage at sea, on land, and in the air as Germany and the Axis powers march toward the Soviet Union. The Allied forces, including Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union, are doing their best to push them back.

You shake your head. People are dying by the hundreds of thousands. And not just soldiers. Civilians are suffering and dying as well.

What is it all for? you ask yourself. The world has changed so much in the past few years.

Your life in the Soviet Union was never easy. The government, under leader Joseph Stalin, has not always helped its citizens. But this… this is different. The enemy is bent on total domination. They won’t settle for anything less than a full surrender.

So, you’ve done the only thing you can. You’ve taken up arms to defend yourself and the people you love. The enemy is strong. You may not survive the fight. But you are ready. You button your uniform. You check your weapon. You take a breath and step forward, ready to do what it takes to push back the German invaders.

To serve as a Soviet scout, press here.

To captain a torpedo boat on the Black Sea, press here.

To attack German supply lines, press here.

CHAPTER 2

Relaying the Message

I could get used to being out here, says Viktor, as he looks up at a bright blue sky.

You smile and nod. You’re in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains near the border of Ukraine and Poland. All you hear is a gentle breeze, birds chirping, and the crunch of your own footsteps as you move across the land. Yes, you can almost forget that we’re surrounded by death and war.

the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains

But as nice as it is out here, this is no pleasure hike. You and Viktor are members of the Soviet Union’s Red Army, and you’re on a scouting mission. It’s the summer of 1942, and Nazi forces