Adam Feuchter, an orphaned farmhand, finds himself conscripted into Napoleon’s Grand Armée and swept up in the French emperor’s invasion of Russia. After enduring merciless bullying by a cruel sergeant, Adam is employed by a young lieutenant, the well-born Konrad Klara. At first master and servant, these two innocent soldiers depend on each other to survive exhaustion, exposure, starvation, and illness as they retreat from Moscow during the Russian winter. Adam tells his story in first person, present tense, in a voice alternately humorous, ironic, and stoic, leaving the reader to ponder the futility of a disastrous war conceived by an arrogant leader. 2006 USBBY-CBC Outstanding International Books List. Arthur A. Levine won the 2006 Batchelder Award for this book. The author has won many awards, includ ing the Peter Hartling Prize for Children’s Literature and the prestigious Zurich Children’s Book Prize. mac

The critically acclaimed 2006 Mildred L. Batchelder Award-winning story of two boys caught up in an unwinnable war--now in paperback with After Words bonus features.Adam is a farmhand conscripted by Napoleon's army, which is gathering strength for its campaign against Russia. Sergeant Krauter makes Adam the victim of his most sadistic urges. But when an aristocratic young lieutenant spots Adam and requisitions him as his personal valet, Adam's life seems to take a turn for the better. As Adam and Lieutenant Konrad Klara draw closer to Moscow, they encounter a panoply of wartime horrors. AN INNOCENT SOLDIER--both poignant and funny--explores the importance of friendship in persevering against overwhelming odds.