The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine (National Book Award Finalist)
H**N
Good buy. Kids want to read it. Good book.
Good buy. Kids want to read it. Good book.
P**R
Excellent book
Wonderfully written story, based on history, linking the 1930’s and 2020. Appropriate for young adult and adult. Quite relevant for today.
J**N
Essential historical fiction for any young adult collection
I was looking for book titles for our middle school's book reading competition and came across The Lost Year as an anticipated title for 2023. I was grateful to Katherine Marsh for her advance copy and found the book to be similar to the books written by Alan Gratz as the storyline follows three characters and weaves their lives together (with an amazing twist I didn't see coming). Most of all, I was thoroughly shocked as I found myself reading about an historical event and genocide I never knew existed, Holodomor. Holodomor was a man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions. The Lost Years is an essential historical fiction book for any library collection. I would give it a 4.5 stars as I wanted to less about the modern day character and know more about what the historical characters would have went through during the famine, but a little research on my own satiated that.
C**Y
A very moving story
This historical fiction book pulled at my heartstrings. It can be an emotionally tough read at times, but it was engaging throughout. My students have really been drawn to the story.
J**N
Middle-grade at its best: compelling story, fascinating history for kids and adults
This book reminded me why I love middle-grade fiction at its best, even as an adult: Like the work of Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Esther Ehrlich and Katherine Paterson, "The Lost Year" takes on urgent and tough foundational issues that kids first begin to wrestle with and wonder about deeply in their middle-school years but that are also lifelong concerns for all of us. "The Lost Year" deals with the Holodomor, a famine engineered by Soviet leaders that took the lives of millions in 1930s Ukraine. The kids and families at the center of Katherine Marsh's story confront questions of how we respond to evil and tragedy that seem to dwarf us as individuals, how we find and promote truth when the powerful want it hidden, and how we define our own identities and carry on in the face of great loss. The true history that the book is rooted in, obscured at the time by official lies that were parroted by prominent news media in the West, is too little-known but especially relevant today, as we face misinformation in our own politics and the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine. Kids and adults both will love and be inspired by the strength and independence of the children in Marsh's story: They are smart and resourceful, with the courage to call out the lies of authority figures and act on their own to survive and help those in need. The history is fascinating (I knew nothing about the Holodomor when I picked up this book), and the story drives on through surprising twists and turns to a family secret that floored me when it was revealed. Marsh deals honestly and sensitively and in an age-appropriate way with the terrible events of the story, and at the end, despite all the loss and pain, finds hope and love. This is a book that deserves to be read and discussed widely. It would be a particularly good one for a child and parent to read and discuss together, alongside events now in the news.
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