Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger's Blog

I am SO thrilled to share that the Bank Street Children’s Book Committee has selected SWIMMING WITH SPIES as one of 2025 Bank Street Children’s Book Committee Best Books of the Year – Book List: Ages 12-14!

About the Award:
The Children’s Book Committee strives to guide librarians, educators, parents, grandparents, and other interested adults to the best books for children published each year. The list includes more than 600 titles chosen by reviewers for literary quality and excellence of presentation as well as the potential emotional impact of the books on young readers. Other criteria include credibility of characterization and plot, authenticity of time and place, age suitability, positive treatment of ethnic and religious differences, and the absence of stereotypes.

Swimming with SpiesSwimming with Spieshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hEvS...

Paulette MacQuarrie talks to us about why we wrote SWIMMING WITH SPIES (Marsha's series is KIDNAPPED FROM UKRAINE), and why it's important to get these stories about Ukraine into young readers' hands in the west.

Marsha and I also talk about how Scholastic's commitment to these books also supports setting the story straight surrounding the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Swimming with Spies by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


★ Swimming with Spies
Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger. Scholastic Press, $18.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-33901-246-9

Talented artist and aspiring scientist Sofiya, 12, narrates Lucyk-Berger’s adroit (Scholastic) debut, set in 2014 Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula. Since her Russian mother left for Moscow three years earlier, Sofiya has devoted herself to helping her Ukrainian father Tato, the director of the dolphinarium, in training and caring for the dolphins. She’s simultaneously intellectually and socially engaged at her school, where Russian and Ukrainian students easily switch between the two languages. When her contentious relationship with Russian Ilya causes them to be paired on a project to raise funds for the dolphinarium, Sofiya begins learning about their interwoven past, and that her beloved sea mammals once served as “military marine systems”—i.e., spies—under the Soviet regime. If the Russians retake Crimea—as they seem poised to do—the creatures will be forced into service again; Sofiya is determined to keep that from happening. The rich, detailed descriptions of Sofiya’s experience training the mammals, which Lucyk-Berger deftly blends with Ukrainian political history, are captivating and Sofiya’s deep bond with them suffuses this affecting story of a preteen grappling with her understanding of her own Ukrainian Russian identity and the loss of her mother. Ages 8–12. (Dec.)

Link: https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781...



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The American Wife is currently available for FREE! (ebook)!

The WW2 espionage series inspired by true stories!

1938. Vienna. As the daughter of a U.S. Senator, Kitty Larsson is no stranger to politics. She shoots, plays cards, and charms people into telling her their secrets. But when she falls in love with a Viennese diplomat and moves to Austria to start her new life, Kitty lands smack dab in the middle of a political chess match. Will her talents be enough to trick the new Nazi regime?

If you haven't had a chance to start the Diplomat's Wife series, but it's marked on your "to-read" list, grab it while you still can. Also on Nook, Google, Apple and Kobo.
The American Wife

My blog features the background and historical facts that inspire my novels. This month, I'm featuring a detailed look at the two Charges d'Affaires who worked at the U.S. consulate in Vienna during and shortly after the Anschluss.

The title is harsh: The Allies Allied against Jews, but that is not even half the story. You can check out my website, including an extract that shows you how I transform historical facts into historical fiction for the novel, at inktreks dot com.

U ❤️ twisty, layered plots, unique characters, deep feels, and imperfect heroines trapped in moral dilemmas amid political upheaval. U also ❤️ historical revelations in 5-⭐️books and everytime you shout out, "I did NOT know that!" you wish there were more stars to give.

Then meet Kitty Larsson. But if you are in the UK and USA, the first book in the series is only 99c or 99p and we all know that great books cost good money. So, please wait. If you are not, then please buy my book.The American Wife

https://geni.us/B0BSH828Y9author

World rights and all languages for trade hardcover, clubs and fairs paperback, and e-book have been acquired for SWIMMING WITH SPIES by Scholastic IP, written by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger.

Sofiya’s father is a dolphin trainer in Sevastopol, Crimea in independent Ukraine. She has a special relationship with the dolphins, most especially with Colin, the oldest in the pod. When the Russian military invades the peninsula and annexes it, Sofiya’s father is given an ultimatum: either repurpose the dolphins into military marine mammals or be incarcerated. Sofiya races against time to save her pod and her father, while wrestling with her own family history and her identity.

Acquired by Editor and Publishing Manager Samantha Palazzi, SWIMMING WITH SPIES will be released in fall 2024.

Jump into an extended extract of the upcoming DIPLOMAT'S WIFE series. You can download it here!
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/43d33v0v9rThe American Wife

Vienna, 1937. When the charismatic American Kitty becomes engaged to Austrian diplomat Edgar, she finds herself thrown into a very different world in Europe, and soon realizes that adjusting to her new life is not easy at all. But when the woman designing her wedding dress, Judith, takes Kitty under her wing, she sees the city of Vienna in a new light – a city of culture and music that she can explore with her new friend.

But when the Nazis come, the fact that Judith is Jewish means Kitty’s friend is no longer safe. With Edgar also growing ever more distant and secretive, Kitty is beginning to wonder which side her husband is really on. When Judith must leave the country for her own safety, Kitty does not trust Edgar to help her. As a diplomat’s wife, she knows what it will take to get Judith out; and she could get access to what is needed. But will it mean betraying the love of her life?

Book 1 releases on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited, Paperback and Audio on April 14th.

The Child of Ukraine by Tetyana Denford

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Full review to follow. I highly recommend this novel. In order for us to understand what the investment in Ukraine's defense against Russia's deeply unjust invasion means, the stories of normal Ukrainians must be shared with a broader audience; and the history of Ukraine's struggle must be understood. Denford has gone out on a limb by sharing a deeply personal story and bringing to life a family whose struggle with identity and understanding is a universal one but whose history is unique.

More to follow!



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Bookouture are honoured to publish a new edition of Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger’s Souvenirs from Kyiv, a book of stories inspired by the author’s Ukrainian family history during the Second World War. Souvenirs from Kyiv will publish on 22nd April and you can pre-order here: https://geni.us/B09WF1MQ8Kcover

You can read more in this blog post: https://www.bookouture.com/.../bookou...

‘Russia has been trying to wipe Ukraine off the world map for thousands of years. They haven’t succeeded yet. Now, I’m picking up my stone and throwing it at Goliath. I want people to understand. I want to save this country.’

Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger, March 2022

Larissa is a renowned embroiderer, surviving in occupied Ukraine during World War II as a seamstress in her ruin of a workshop. Surrounded by enemies, she expresses her defiance by threading history into her garments. But at what cost?

Mykhailo is a soldier on leave, returning to Ukraine from the front on Christmas Eve. As he travels through his country, he is confronted by the hardship the war has brought to his fellow countrymen. Will what he sees this Christmas change the course of his life forever?

Marusia and her family are woken early one morning by the arrival of the Nazis, who have come to search for her partisan brother. As the soldiers move through their house, her family has just moments to make choices that will determine their survival.

Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger’s stories bring to life the true history of her Ukrainian family who fought to survive World War II. Laced with hope, Souvenirs from Kyiv celebrates the endurance and resilience of the human spirit.

Souvenirs from Kyiv was awarded 2nd Place in the 2014 HNS International Short Story Award and the collection won the silver medal in the IPPY Book Awards 2020 for Military and Wartime fiction.

Praise for Souvenirs from Kyiv:
‘I am stunned by the sad beauty . . . That's how I feel after reading a really brilliant book.’ Marina Osipova, author of How Dare the Birds SingSouvenirs from Kiev: Ukraine and Ukrainians in WWII