A review by bibliophage
Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson

This is a phenomenal piece of work and rightfully belongs on my "Favorites" shelf. I will never forget this book and what I've learned about Leningrad/St. Petersburg, Stalin, "The Great Terror," the German invasion of the Eastern Front, Shostakovich (one of my favorite composers), and the marvelous reminder of the incredible power of music. M.T. Anderson's writing is very reader-friendly––the events and people are laid out clearly and it's easy to follow the history while also benefiting from Anderson's insight and interpretation. He shares vivid and horrific details and yet they are necessary to get a sense of the events, there is so much here that I only knew on the surface level, but it's different when it's described in detail and in relation to real humans. Just when you think that the terrors of war and the evils of Stalin couldn't get worse, you turn the page.
Anderson's writing is also interesting and eloquent. I'll just share this short passage from the beginning to give a sense of what Anderson's writing is like: "That year, it was as if the city was built of ideas and argument: People walked across a pavement of propaganda, and the walls were plastered with posters. Buildings were coated in debates. Type ran in every direction. Newspapers sprang up, printed a few issues in flurries, then died."

National Book Award in Young People's Literature 2015