During Burien's Winterfest this weekend, local author Helen Castle will be singing her book Polina's Journey.

Burien Books, 643 S.W. 152nd St., will host Castle's book signing on Saturday, Dec. 1, from noon to 4 p.m.

At age 82, Castle has become a first-time published author.

Polina's Journey, a tribute to her mother, Polina Nicolaevna Belkova, was over 30 years in the making.

Castle began writing her masterpiece in 1982 based on many taped conversations with her mother and translated from her mother's Russian language to English.

Polina's Journey opens in 1918 with preparations for a dance. This is not just any dance. There are two eligible bachelors looking for wives.

Polina envisions a life of happiness when she is matched with a handsome young Cossack as her husband. Life seems ideal.

But during the Bolshevik Revolution, Polina, her husband and young child cross a frozen river, patrolled by the Red Army, from Siberia to the relative safety of Manchuria.

After returning to the Russian border, her husband is killed in front of her during a massacre by the Red Army.

Alone with two children, she travels to Harbin, hoping to locate her sister who earlier escaped to China.

After she finds her sister, they travel by boat to Tsingtao.

Polina finds work at an orphanage, but when it closes she has nowhere to go. Reluctantly, she sends her children to an orphanage in Shanghai. Polina's only desire and goal is to be reunited with her children.

She eventually meets a kind man, they marry and he helps her retrieve her children.

Then, China is invaded, which disrupts the peaceful life Polina envisioned. She begins another journey-one with a magnificent ending.

Polina's Journey is intense reading packed with momentum that keeps the reader on the edge of his or her seat. It is a story of courage, strength, determination and love.

In the book, Castle is "Elena"-and she vividly remembers some of the incidents from so many years past.

Sitting in her Burien home with husband John, Castle describes her book as a tribute to her mother.

"I wanted to write for my kids," she added. "My granddaughter is 13 and has read it three times."

Castle, the mother of four and a proud grandmother, has been married to John for 61 years.

When it comes to the creation of her book, she gives credit where credit is due.

"My husband is supportive. It took a lot of encouragement from him and my friend Gloria Cominger.

John describes Polina's Journey as "the true grit of a little woman."

He supports his wife's journey into the literary world by addressing book requests, managing correspondence and arranging community contacts and public relations.

A Seattle printer originally printed one hundred copies of Polina's Journey. But word spread and soon readers from Tennessee, Oklahoma and North Carolina requested recipes for some of the dishes in the book.

Five hundred more books were printed in 2006-an amazing accomplishment an amazing feat for an author who did not expect to be published.

Castle hopes the telling of her mother's journey will impact lives so "they will appreciate their family. That people will get together and talk with parents because the world is changing. Things are going too fast."

Who was Polina?

She was an amazing woman who liked to offer guests a cup of tea, beat cancer, even though "she ate everything wrong," and made her daughters' wedding dresses.

Polina knitted items for Christmas bazaars and had dry mittens on hand in the winter so her grandchildren always had a dry pair for playing in the snow. She made quilts for her family and sometimes embroidered pillowcases.

A petite woman who enjoyed reading, Polina lived in America for 34 years before her death on Jan. 26, 1988, at age 87.

Sitting by her living room window while signing a book, Castle says, "My mother would be pleased. I am hoping that people who spend the money will enjoy it."

Her future as a published author looks bright, considering that she has also authored children's books, which are yet to be published.

Polina's Journey is also available at Page 2 Books in Burien.

An autographed copy of Polina's Journey may make a great Christmas gift for someone, young or old, on your list.