In peaceful Leningrad, suddenly grown-up Shurka and Bobka are learning to live anew. Together again, each on their own: a beautiful girl in a red beret awaits Shurka in the courtyard, while Bobka, businesslike and serious, withdraws into himself. Sara seeks her own way to communicate with the world: she's learning to play the violin. The entire communal apartment buys an instrument—the child has talent, of course! And summer lies ahead: whitish American milk, a dacha in Komarovo, Uncle Yasha, Galya, General Maximka... Only Tanya is missing—is she alive?

'Clay Bees' is the fifth book in the 'Leningrad Tales' series. The first, 'The Raven's Children,' was named the top event of 2016 in young adult literature, shortlisted for the Yasnaya Polyana literary prize, included in the international 'White Crows' list of the top 200 books from 60 countries, and won the In Other Words award from BookTrust, the largest British children's literature foundation. The second book in the series, 'The Stolen City,' was longlisted for the V. Krapivin Prize in 2017, and the third book, 'Beetles Don't Cry,' was longlisted for the NOS Prize.