The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine (National Book Award Finalist)

by Katherine Marsh Narrated by Anna Fikhman, Christopher Gebauer, Jesse Vilinsky, Katherine Marsh

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Alternating timelines between past and present, The Lost Year is a stunning story of family secrets and hidden history, giving readers insight into 1930s Ukraine and the Holodomor famine. This unputdownable read based on the author’s own family history is both heartbreaking and hopeful.

"Narrators Anna Fikhman, Christopher Gebauer, and Jesse Vilinsky combine talents in this compelling historical fiction, which takes place during the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s."- AudioFile

Author's note read by the author.

From the author of Nowhere Boy-called “a resistance novel for our times” by The New York Times-comes a brilliant middle-grade survival story that traces a harrowing family secret back to the Holodomor, a terrible famine that devastated Soviet Ukraine in the 1930s.

Thirteen-year-old Matthew is miserable. His journalist dad is stuck overseas indefinitely, and his mom has moved in his one-hundred-year-old great-grandmother to ride out the pandemic, adding to his stress and isolation.

But when Matthew finds a tattered black-and-white photo in his great-grandmother's belongings, he discovers a clue to a hidden chapter of her past, one that will lead to a life-shattering family secret. Set in alternating timelines that connect the present-day to the 1930s and the US to the USSR, Katherine Marsh's latest novel sheds fresh light on the Holodomor-the horrific famine that killed millions of Ukrainians, and which the Soviet government covered up for decades.

An incredibly timely story of family, survival, and sacrifice, inspired by Marsh's own family history, The Lost Year is perfect for fans of Ruta Sepetys' Between Shades of Gray and Alan Gratz's Refugee.

Praise for The Lost Year

"The Lost Year is both timeless and timely, a tapestry woven of complex lives in a loving family over generations, as Mattie's lockdown catches fire when he unearths a guilty secret fearfully guarded for nearly ninety years by his Ukrainian great-grandmother. Katherine Marsh is a genius for creating people that feel real in a story that feels magical.” - Elizabeth Wein, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Code Name Verity

“Katherine Marsh tackles a heart wrenching slice of history - the mass starvation of millions of Ukrainians under Stalin - with an unwavering gaze and great empathy. Be forewarned: this book will change you.” - Kirby Larson, Newbery Honor-winning author of Hattie Big Sky

"The Lost Year brings this little-known slice of history to life with lively characters and a high-stakes plot that'll keep you turning pages." - Steve Sheinkin, Three-Time National Book Award Finalist

"Katherine Marsh has beautifully woven a gripping tale covering both the Stalin-orchestrated Ukraine famine in 1932 and the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Marsh shows us how deeply connected we are to our past and that in the middle of a societal crisis where disinformation is rampant, the ultimate truth can be found in the relationships we hold dear. It will break your heart and put it back together again. A must-read especially for these times." - Veera Hiranandani, Newbery Honor-winning author of The Night Diary

A Macmillan Audio production from Roaring Brook Press.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Praise for The Lost Year

*National Book Award Finalist*

*Golden Kite Award Winner*

*A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the 21st Century*

*A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year*

*A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year*

*A Bank Street Best Book of the Year*

"Marsh’s novel, inspired by the struggles of her own Ukrainian grandmother’s family, is a haunting story of survival in which children’s anxieties — whether about famine or Covid — are masterfully wrapped in layered prose." — The New York Times Book Review

"The Lost Year is both timeless and timely, a tapestry woven of complex lives in a loving family over generations, as Mattie's lockdown catches fire when he unearths a guilty secret fearfully guarded for nearly ninety years by his Ukrainian great-grandmother. Katherine Marsh is a genius for creating people that feel real in a story that feels magical.” — Elizabeth Wein, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Code Name Verity

“Katherine Marsh tackles a heart wrenching slice of history — the mass starvation of millions of Ukrainians under Stalin — with an unwavering gaze and great empathy. Be forewarned: this book will change you.” — Kirby Larson, Newbery Honor-winning author of Hattie Big Sky

"The Lost Year brings this little-known slice of history to life with lively characters and a high-stakes plot that'll keep you turning pages." — Steve Sheinkin, Three-Time National Book Award Finalist

"Katherine Marsh has beautifully woven a gripping tale covering both the Stalin-orchestrated Ukraine famine in 1932 and the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Marsh shows us how deeply connected we are to our past and that in the middle of a societal crisis where disinformation is rampant, the ultimate truth can be found in the relationships we hold dear. It will break your heart and put it back together again. A must-read especially for these times." — Veera Hiranandani, Newbery Honor-winning author of The Night Diary

★ "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." - Booklist, starred review

"A moving presentation of a long-suppressed piece of history." - Kirkus Reviews

"Captivating first-person POV chapters 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." - Publishers Weekly

"Marsh has a clear knowledge of the Soviet world and the Holodomor, and she seamlessly interweaves historical events and figures." - The Bulletin

"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." - School Library Journal

Winner of the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award

A Jane AddamsPeace Association Children's Book Award Finalist

An ALSC Notable Children's Book

A Notable Social Studies Trade Book

A NYPL Best Book for Kids

A Chicago Public Library Best Book of the Year

An Evanston Public Library Great Book for Kids

An Indiana Young Hoosier Award Finalist

Kirkus Reviews

2022-10-26
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)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940175675444
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	01/17/2023
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

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