Book gives insight into Russia's young orphans

Naval Academy professor Clementine K. Fujimura teaches Russian language and culture, but her feelings for the orphans and abandoned children she studied in Russia go far beyond scholarship.

In her new book about these forsaken children, she describes scenes from the orphanages, or "baby houses" as they are called in Russia, that could come from a Charles Dickens novel.

"These children are rarely held, touched, or cuddled," Ms. Fujimura wrote. "Once comfortable with my presence, they clung to me and hugged my legs or any limb they could grab. At one point I had one child per finger, holding on desperately, as if life depended...