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4.49 AVERAGE
4.49 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
The Lost Year is a dual-timeline middle-grade novel. Matthew is a 13-year-old living in 2020 at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. His 100-year-old great-grandmother has just moved in with him so he has to be even more cautious about Covid. He can't go anywhere or do anything fun it seems. The second timeline focuses on two girls, Mila and Nadiya, living in Kyiv, Ukraine/USSR in the early 1930s. Their story centers on the Holodomor - a manmade famine imposed upon "kulaks" (Russian peasant farmers) by the Soviet regime. I had never even heard of the Holodomor before reading this book. Katherine Marsh did an excellent job of teaching about this horrific time in Ukrainian history. This book is perfect for our current time. It would be a great middle-grade read-aloud.
Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Roaring Brook Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for advanced reading and listening copies of The Lost Year.
Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Roaring Brook Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for advanced reading and listening copies of The Lost Year.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death of parent
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Thank you to Edelweiss+ and the publisher for an eARC copy to read.
Katherine Marsh shares a time-period history still unknown to many but starting to come to the forefront with current events and recently released titles like Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch's Winterkill. The Lost Year tells the story of one Ukrainian family during the Holodomor from four perspectives. Matthew lives in New Jersey and is living through the early days of the Covid pandemic (2020). Mattie's great-grandmother moved in with his family, and his mother wants them to go through her belongings to decide what to keep. In opening GG's boxes, her story unravels, and readers meet Helen, a Ukrainian American girl living in 1933 Brooklyn, Mila, a young Soviet girl in 1933 Kyiv and her cousin Nadiya, the sole survivor of her family and looking for refuge from her uncle.
The Lost Year will emit many emotions as the story unfolds, from the government's cruelty to the people's blindness of what is happening to the suffering of Mila, Helen and Nadiya. Matthew's experiences of isolation and boredom will also connect with readers. The concern and fear for his father in Paris and possible exposure to COVID could also resonate with what many readers experienced and continue to encounter today.
The relationship between Matthew and his great-grandmother is a favourite going from cantankerous to a deep bond. It starts by showing Matthew being uncomfortable and worried, while GG shows her stubbornness of not wanting to relive horrible memories. How Matthew gently prods his GG to share and then researches to help her let go of the past is touching, and after the four stories come together, readers know this will impact who he will be in the future.
The author's note is a section that should not be missed or skimmed over. In the background matter, readers will learn how the author's connections to these events are intertwined in the four perspectives, making it all the more powerful. The additional information regarding the inaccuracies in the news coming out of the Soviet Union and how propaganda kept its citizens in the dark during this time provides many opportunities for deeper discussions and connections today.
I am grateful we are starting to see that authors can now share stories from different periods and viewpoints so readers of all ages can learn about all the versions of the past. Released on January 16, this is a book that not only shares times in the past but will stand the test of time because of its engaging story and memorable characters.
Keywords: Historical, Holodomor, Intergenerational, Emigration & Immigration
Similar Titles: Winterkill and Bottle of Grain: A Holodomor Story
Katherine Marsh shares a time-period history still unknown to many but starting to come to the forefront with current events and recently released titles like Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch's Winterkill. The Lost Year tells the story of one Ukrainian family during the Holodomor from four perspectives. Matthew lives in New Jersey and is living through the early days of the Covid pandemic (2020). Mattie's great-grandmother moved in with his family, and his mother wants them to go through her belongings to decide what to keep. In opening GG's boxes, her story unravels, and readers meet Helen, a Ukrainian American girl living in 1933 Brooklyn, Mila, a young Soviet girl in 1933 Kyiv and her cousin Nadiya, the sole survivor of her family and looking for refuge from her uncle.
The Lost Year will emit many emotions as the story unfolds, from the government's cruelty to the people's blindness of what is happening to the suffering of Mila, Helen and Nadiya. Matthew's experiences of isolation and boredom will also connect with readers. The concern and fear for his father in Paris and possible exposure to COVID could also resonate with what many readers experienced and continue to encounter today.
The relationship between Matthew and his great-grandmother is a favourite going from cantankerous to a deep bond. It starts by showing Matthew being uncomfortable and worried, while GG shows her stubbornness of not wanting to relive horrible memories. How Matthew gently prods his GG to share and then researches to help her let go of the past is touching, and after the four stories come together, readers know this will impact who he will be in the future.
The author's note is a section that should not be missed or skimmed over. In the background matter, readers will learn how the author's connections to these events are intertwined in the four perspectives, making it all the more powerful. The additional information regarding the inaccuracies in the news coming out of the Soviet Union and how propaganda kept its citizens in the dark during this time provides many opportunities for deeper discussions and connections today.
I am grateful we are starting to see that authors can now share stories from different periods and viewpoints so readers of all ages can learn about all the versions of the past. Released on January 16, this is a book that not only shares times in the past but will stand the test of time because of its engaging story and memorable characters.
Keywords: Historical, Holodomor, Intergenerational, Emigration & Immigration
Similar Titles: Winterkill and Bottle of Grain: A Holodomor Story
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Lost Year is definitely a book that a lot of teachers and kids will enjoy. The time period the book starts is during the Covid pandemic (2020) in Leonia, New Jersey. Thirteen year old Matthew is stuck in the house, school is online but worse than that his great grandmother, GG, is staying with his family and his mom has forbidden him from coming into contact with others because she doesn’t want GG to get Covid. Of course with nothing to do Matthew accidentally causes a small ruckus involving a bow and arrow and GG. His mom punishes him by confiscating his switch and forcing him to help GG clean out boxes she is holding onto. Once Matthew begins helping GG. unpack and sift through the pages and pictures she has, he stumbles upon a family history that GG has never shared with anyone. GG’s life is not what it seems and the book starts flashing back to the lives of three first cousins all being impacted by a historical event called the Holodomer which is the Ukrainian famine of the 1930’s. This famine was the cause of over a million Ukrainian deaths that the Soviet Union covered up for decades. The book flashes from present day Matthew’s life to great Grandma GG’s childhood. There were three is a mystery to Matthew at first when GG mentions it to Matthew as she shared a picture of herself with her cousin Helen. This book was masterfully written with so much detail that the characters come to life to the reader. There is also much detail and description about the events that happened in the 1930’s making the history found in the book meaningful and accessible to the reader. There are some heavier themes in this book and would recommend it for older jr. high readers. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
fast-paced