Grishka has grown up in the closed world of a puppet theater in Russia, but now that world seems to be falling apart--his best friend needs an operation, financial difficulties are forcing people out, his homosexual friend Sam, the jester, is leaving for Holland and Grishka no longer knows what role he himself is playing.

When a set of priceless paintings by Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt go missing in Russia, the Kidd siblings head to St. Petersburg and the wild Arctic tundra to find the bad guys and locate the treasure.

"Artem lives in the sleepy city of Stalingrad, which has mostly been cut off from war with Nazi Germany--until now. That July, martial law is declared as the Nazis begin their unprecedented march toward the city. Artem's older brother is a soldier in Stalin's Red Army, and Artem is worried for his brother's safety once he and his family have evacuated the city. Then the announcement comes. Stalin has ordered that no civilians be allowed to leave Stalingrad....

A middle grade adventure told through diary entries, maps, and photos depicts the harrowing journey of two siblings who become separated when the Nazis declare war on the Soviet Union and their city evacuates its children on trains meant to carry them to safety.