The Lost Year

November 15, 2022
A 13-year-old boy trapped indoors by Covid-19 uncovers a dark family secret leading back to the Holodomor, the early 1930s Ukrainian famine caused by Stalin's policies. When the pandemic shuts down the world in 2020, Matthew is more isolated than most kids. His journalist father is stuck in Paris, and since his mom has moved GG, his frail, 100-year-old, Ukrainian immigrant great-grandmother, in with them, protecting her means Matthew can't see his friends. Matthew starts helping GG sort her boxes of keepsakes, gradually piecing together a story that's also told from the points of view of Mila, the privileged daughter of a Communist Party member, and Helen, the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants living in Brooklyn. When Helen's cousins write to say they are starving, she secretly mails them her father's cherished gold cross. Meanwhile, in Kyiv, Mila encounters a starving girl who claims to be her cousin Nadiya. Mila is a strong supporter of Papa Stalin, but her efforts to help Nadiya ultimately open her eyes to the truth about his regime--as well as endangering her own life. Marsh's intertwining narratives ground the story of the Holodomor--which affected her own family--within a historical framework while leading up to a completely believable and emotionally powerful conclusion. A strong subplot discusses journalistic integrity and how one powerful man managed to keep the truth of the Holodomor hidden for years. A moving presentation of a long-suppressed piece of history. (author's note) (Historical fiction. 9-14)

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November 21, 2022
A 13-year-old boy discovers a dark family secret in this stirring volume by Marsh (Nowhere Boy). As the Covid-19 lockdown begins, Matthew is stuck in his Leonia, N.J., home with his divorced magazine editor mother and his 100-year-old Ukrainian-born great-grandmother Nadiya, called GG. Struggling to adjust to the new reality, Matthew finds comfort in playing video games, until his mother takes away his gaming console and orders him to help GG organize her personal belongings. When he finds a photo of two girls, labeled “Nadiya and Helen,” GG reluctantly divulges that she and her cousin Helen had once been a trio, and that what happened to the third cousin, Mila, is a “terrible secret,” spurring Matthew to learn more about GG’s past.
Captivating first-person POV chapters—which alternate between Matthew in 2020 N.J. and Helen, Nadiya, and Mila in 1930s Brooklyn and Kyiv—vividly render the suffering caused by Stalin’s imposed famine, Holodomor; the event’s perception around the world; and the aftereffects that ripple into Matthew’s present. Helen and Matthew’s growing understanding of the tenets of responsible journalism link their stories as each seeks to uncover the truth and report on their discoveries. An author’s note concludes. Ages 10–14.

March 1, 2023
Marsh's affecting historical novel, inspired by her own family's story, describes the social and political backdrop of the Holodomor, a famine that killed millions of ­Ukrainians in the 1930s and was covered up by the Soviets (Ukraine was a republic of the USSR at the time). It opens by introducing Matthew, a present-day, screen-obsessed thirteen-year-old living in New Jersey, "basically under house arrest" during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has been asked to help Nadiya, his hundred-year-old great-grandmother, to sort through her belongings; in so doing he starts to piece together the Lomachenko family story. Matthew's chapters alternate with those of Mila, a Young Pioneer living in 1930s Kyiv under the watchful eye of her doting widowed father (and Papa Stalin), and of Nadiya's cousin Helen in Depression-era Brooklyn. The harsh realities of the Stalin regime -- where citizens could be declared "class enemies, " evicted from their homes, and sent to labor colonies for any perceived anti-Party infraction -- come to light. The horrors of state-sanctioned starvation and the desperation of would-be refugees are palpable and disturbing to read, but they are made palatable because the experiences are filtered through the viewpoints and sensibilities of young people caught up in the disaster. The multiple voices come together to bear witness and remind us that history is a collection of stories, "and it matters enormously who gets to tell them." A compelling and timely look at the historically complex and fraught relationship between Ukraine and Russia. Luann Toth

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from December 1, 2022
Grades 4-7 *Starred Review* Matthew is stuck at home during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, and, like most 13-year-olds, he would rather play video games than hang out with his 100-year-old great-grandmother, Nadiya, or "GG." Matthew's mom has other plans. Forced to unpack GG's storage boxes, Matthew finds a photo that sparks questions and ultimately unspools a long-hidden history about GG's childhood in Stalin-ruled Soviet Ukraine. Alternating perspectives between Matthew and GG's cousins when they were young girls, the story connects 1930s Brooklyn to Communist Ukraine during its devastating, man-made famine, the Holodomor. As the cousins' narratives unfold, the book also links two moments in history deeply impacted by disinformation; it encourages readers to consider carefully their sources and emphasizes that "we need to tell the whole story" and be mindful of whose stories have not--or cannot--be told. Marsh, Edgar Award-winning author of The Night Tourist (2007), explains in a note that she rooted her research in her own relatives' experiences during the Holodomor. The fairly lengthy middle-grade book rewards readers with a nimble twist and satisfying ending and has an obvious urgency in light of current geopolitics. A natural selection for fans of Alan Gratz and a stepping stone to the work of Ruta Sepetys, this sobering and important story will be an excellent addition to classroom and library collections.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 27, 2023

Gr 5 Up-Four intertwined narratives explore a family history full of suffering, sacrifice, and secrets. Much of the book explores the events in the early 1930s around the Holomodor (death by starvation) in Ukraine. Mila, Nadia, and Helen are the Lomachenko cousins at the center of the story. Helen is in America; Mila is the daughter of a powerful Communist party member in Kyiv; and Nadia lives with her rural farming family in Ukraine. The story opens in 2020 where Matthew spends a lot of time with his great-grandmother during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in New Jersey, and she shares the untold story of her early life as one of the cousins as they go through her box of memories. Matthew seeks help from his reporter father who is working in Europe. The chapters are titled with the name of the character they feature and include an image, location, and date, which helps keep everyone straight as there are a lot of shifting perspectives. The narrative structure is a bit clunky at times, but the story is compelling. VERDICT With appealing connections to a family living in the time of the pandemic and insight into the history of Ukraine, this striking work of historical fiction dives into the importance of telling one's story and preserving the history of everyday people.-Erin Wyatt

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2023
Marsh's affecting historical novel, inspired by her own family's story, describes the social and political backdrop of the Holodomor, a famine that killed millions of Ukrainians in the 1930s and was covered up by the Soviets (Ukraine was a republic of the USSR at the time). It opens by introducing Matthew, a present-day, screen-obsessed thirteen-year-old living in New Jersey, "basically under house arrest" during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has been asked to help Nadiya, his hundred-year-old great-grandmother, to sort through her belongings; in so doing he starts to piece together the Lomachenko family story. Matthew's chapters alternate with those of Mila, a Young Pioneer living in 1930s Kyiv under the watchful eye of her doting widowed father (and Papa Stalin), and of Nadiya's cousin Helen in Depression-era Brooklyn. The harsh realities of the Stalin regime -- where citizens could be declared "class enemies," evicted from their homes, and sent to labor colonies for any perceived anti-Party infraction -- come to light. The horrors of state-sanctioned starvation and the desperation of would-be refugees are palpable and disturbing to read, but they are made palatable because the experiences are filtered through the viewpoints and sensibilities of young people caught up in the disaster. The multiple voices come together to bear witness and remind us that history is a collection of stories, "and it matters enormously who gets to tell them." A compelling and timely look at the historically complex and fraught relationship between Ukraine and Russia.

(Copyright 2023 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)