Breaking Stalin's Nose Chapter 30 Summary

  • Sasha takes the streetcar to Lubyanka prison, where his dad is presumably locked up.
  • The prison guard tells Sasha to get in line when Sasha asks to see his dad.
  • The line that greets Sasha must be the Queen-Mother of all queues. It stretches around the building and snakes up and down several streets. Thousands of people are in line to see loved ones in the prison. The illustration gives you a pretty good idea of what this line would have looked like (30.F2-F5).
  • A nice woman in front of him gives Sasha a scarf, since it's bitterly cold outside. The scarf belongs to her son, whom she's hoping to visit.
  • Sasha learns from her that he will be in line for at least three days. Yes—the line is that long. And they don't have FastPass for this ride.
  • She also gives Sasha a hot potato to eat.
  • When she finds out that Sasha is now homeless, she invites him to live with her, since her son is not using his cot right now (on account of the whole being-in-prison thing).
  • She tells Sasha that they have gotten themselves into quite a mess, and asks him if they can one day sort it all out. Sasha doesn't know.
  • The woman says that they have a lot of waiting to do, and the book ends with both of them waiting (and the final illustration showing a huge line of people snaking off into the far distance).