In ‘The Sunflower Boys,’ a 12-year-old boy comes of age during war in Ukraine

Artem is a 12-year-old Ukranian boy who likes to spend summer days on his grandfather’s sunflower farm swimming with his younger brother, Yuri. But one night in February 2022, they hear sirens and bomb blasts – and soon, they’re fleeing war. Sam Wachman’s debut novel The Sunflower Boys was inspired by his ancestral ties to Ukraine and his experience volunteering with Ukrainian children. In today’s episode, he joins NPR’s Scott Simon for a conversation about national history, the boys he tutored, and the sense of mission behind his writing.


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