Does anyone know of any literature set in this historical context with children as protagonists? Looking for representations of both urban and rural life of the average child. Thanks!
You can try Arkady Gaidar. Timur and his squad, Tale of a drummer and Chuk and Gek are all set in the 30's.
For a less rosy story you can read Stalin's Nose by Yevgeny Yelchin, but this author was born in 1956, so he had no first-hand experience.