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The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine
*A National Book Award Finalist*
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, page-turning 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.
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, page-turning 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.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 17, 2023
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August 4, 2023
By and large, it sucks to live through history. For every Apollo moon landing you get ten Challengers. For every March on Washington you get reasons for why that march had to happen in the first place. Our kids know this. Heck, our kids probably know this better, as a group, than most kids throughout history. After all, only a few of the youngest of them will have already forgotten the experience of living through lockdown. It was such a bonding moment for them. For the rest of their lives they’ll know that almost every person around their age that they meet lived through some kind of variation on the same experience. When the early pandemic lockdown first happened in 2020, children’s authors leapt at the chance to include it in their middle grade novels. As a result you’d get books like Joseph Bruchac’s Rez Dogs, which came out while many children were still learning virtually, or Kelly Yang’s New From Here, which came out just after. Now a little more than three years has passed, as I write this, since March of 2020. Still, we’ll be seeing the pandemic in our literature for some time to come. The trick is in how authors use it, and few have been so deft as Katherine Marsh in her thoroughly stunning The Lost Year. If you think the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, the famine in Ukraine in the 1930s, and Brooklyn at that same time makes for an awkward tri-narrative, you are wrong. And if you also think that it would be highly difficult to weave three such perspectives together, there you are correct, but it can be done. The Lost Year proves as much.
It hasn’t been a good day. Matthew’s Ninetendo Switch was confiscated by his mom JUST as he was finally going to defeat the big bad in Zelda. It’s early 2020 and the world has shut down. Matthew’s stuck in his home with his mom and great-grandma, whom he just calls GG. Meanwhile his dad is stuck overseas in Europe where he’s reporting on COVID-19 from afar. When Matthew's mom assigns him the task of helping GG go through her old boxes, his boredom is quickly quelled by fascination. GG starts to tell two stories: One of a girl named Helen living in Brooklyn the 30s, and one of her cousin in Ukraine. But just to make the story confusing, there were actually two cousins in the Ukraine. Only one of them got out alive. The more Matthew learns, the more he realizes that he’s unspooling a family mystery that has been hidden in the family for decades… until now.
Kids today. Man. They are so lucky. Thanks to the middle grade novels they read, they’re going to be a universally informed generation in terms of history. My generation got our history from School House Rock. So, by the time I graduated high school I could tell you the rudimentary basics of WWII, but would demure if you asked about its predecessor. And the Ukraine? I knew so very little. Yet what separates a fine novel for kids from a truly great novel isn’t the simple fact that it’s set in the past and brings up facts that teachers, parents, and librarians might not know. We’ve plenty of rote books out there to make that clear enough. No, there needs to be something that ties the past into the present in some way. I don’t mean that you need a contemporary character. You need a universal truth to be present in your history that resonates with the current reader. In the case of The Lost Year, I was surprised to discover how much of this book is about news reporting. There’s the reporting tips that Matthew is getting from his father in order to interview his great-grandmother. Back in the 30s there’s the inaccurate reporting coming from Moscow correspondent Walter Duranty saying that there is no famine. There’s the reporting that Helen wants to do in order to tell the true story of what's happening overseas, only to find her eyewitness has clammed up. And if by reading this book kids can start to get a sense of what propaganda is and how it can be wielded, the price will be worth it right there.
Just from a technical standpoint, I went through this book to figure out when exactly Marsh first starts to introduce characters beyond our contemporary hero, Matthew. Matthew starts learning of the girls’ stories, but if the author had waited too long to introduce them, it would mean front ending the book with a lot of comparatively dull lockdown text. So around chapter four she brings us a Helen chapter. It’s neat and you get the sense that it may have some tie to an old photo Matthew dug up in GG’s room. Now if Marsh had just plunged forward with that storyline without further explanation she could have disengaged her readers, so she intersperses this Helen stuff with Matthew again. This continues until a moment when GG says that she has “A terrible secret. Changed my life.” And then next thing you know we meet Mila. Adept.
As a child I eschewed misery as a general rule. If I got even a whiff of a sense that a book wasn’t going to be pure sweetness and light, I was outta there. Pretty limiting, I know. As an adult reader, some of that remains in me, so I’m very attuned to how an author keeps a book from devolving into a misery stew. When you’re writing for the 9-12 year old crowd, how much is too much? What are you allowed to tell? Where do you draw the line sometimes? In Marsh’s case, the only other books I’d read from her were fantasies. Here, she has to grapple with the horrors of a famine. To do so, she cleverly puts up some barriers between herself and the reader. The terrible things that happen in Nadia’s village are told to us after the fact. When bad things happen to our main characters, it’s a little more bearable because they have people (though not many) that do take care of them. And there’s a happy ending to the book but it’s a bittersweet happiness. Somehow, that makes you like it all the more.
Now how do you sell this to kids? I’m not saying it doesn’t grip you from the start. As the mother of a Zelda-loving kid, I have a special appreciation in my heart for the first sentences of this pretty sophisticated novel being, “Dark Beast Ganon charged. I aimed the Bow of Light at the monster’s glowing core and jumped. I shot off one arrow, then another.” But let's face it. Some kids are going to hear the words “historical novel” and jump ship from the get go. Back in the day I did a lot of “booktalks” for kids. These are cases where you basically do a movie trailer, but as a monologue, for a book for a roomful of students. And what I love most about The Lost Year is also what’s going to sell it for them: It has a twist. Did I see the twist coming? Of course. Marsh plays fair with the reader and lays down lots of nice little clues. Still, even knowing what it was, I still felt that palpable shock when I discovered that I was right. Gotta credit the writing there.
Naturally, as a librarian my inclination is to pair this book with other titles. Interestingly, the first thing to come to mind was The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman. Again you have two girls, with two points of view, in an oppressive state, trying to make their way (only in this case they’ve escaped from Chernobyl). I was reminded too of The Genius Under the Table by Eugene Yelchin, where a boy growing up in Russia (a bit later in time than in this book) faces his deprivations with a ton of humor. Finally Cloud and Wallfish by Anne Nesbet came to mind as well. By gum, you could have yourself an incredible Cold War reading list if you truly wanted to.
I was explaining the plot of this book to my 9-year-old and the subject of Ukraine today came up and what they’re going through. When he heard that civilians were getting injured he asked, “Why doesn’t everyone just leave?” I tried to explain that it can be very difficult to leave a country and that America doesn’t take all that many refugees. He was utterly shocked. “But America’s the one country the in the world that takes everyone!” That hurt to correct, but it occurs to me that we might not have brought it up at all if I wasn’t explaining to him how hard it was for people to even leave the Ukraine in the 30s. Can you imagine all the conversations that this book will spark? That it has already sparked? So many comparisons to today. So many ways in which the problems then can mirror our problems today. Those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it. And those that don’t read their children’s historical fiction are missing out on more than they’ll ever know. A grand work of recent and distant history.
It hasn’t been a good day. Matthew’s Ninetendo Switch was confiscated by his mom JUST as he was finally going to defeat the big bad in Zelda. It’s early 2020 and the world has shut down. Matthew’s stuck in his home with his mom and great-grandma, whom he just calls GG. Meanwhile his dad is stuck overseas in Europe where he’s reporting on COVID-19 from afar. When Matthew's mom assigns him the task of helping GG go through her old boxes, his boredom is quickly quelled by fascination. GG starts to tell two stories: One of a girl named Helen living in Brooklyn the 30s, and one of her cousin in Ukraine. But just to make the story confusing, there were actually two cousins in the Ukraine. Only one of them got out alive. The more Matthew learns, the more he realizes that he’s unspooling a family mystery that has been hidden in the family for decades… until now.
Kids today. Man. They are so lucky. Thanks to the middle grade novels they read, they’re going to be a universally informed generation in terms of history. My generation got our history from School House Rock. So, by the time I graduated high school I could tell you the rudimentary basics of WWII, but would demure if you asked about its predecessor. And the Ukraine? I knew so very little. Yet what separates a fine novel for kids from a truly great novel isn’t the simple fact that it’s set in the past and brings up facts that teachers, parents, and librarians might not know. We’ve plenty of rote books out there to make that clear enough. No, there needs to be something that ties the past into the present in some way. I don’t mean that you need a contemporary character. You need a universal truth to be present in your history that resonates with the current reader. In the case of The Lost Year, I was surprised to discover how much of this book is about news reporting. There’s the reporting tips that Matthew is getting from his father in order to interview his great-grandmother. Back in the 30s there’s the inaccurate reporting coming from Moscow correspondent Walter Duranty saying that there is no famine. There’s the reporting that Helen wants to do in order to tell the true story of what's happening overseas, only to find her eyewitness has clammed up. And if by reading this book kids can start to get a sense of what propaganda is and how it can be wielded, the price will be worth it right there.
Just from a technical standpoint, I went through this book to figure out when exactly Marsh first starts to introduce characters beyond our contemporary hero, Matthew. Matthew starts learning of the girls’ stories, but if the author had waited too long to introduce them, it would mean front ending the book with a lot of comparatively dull lockdown text. So around chapter four she brings us a Helen chapter. It’s neat and you get the sense that it may have some tie to an old photo Matthew dug up in GG’s room. Now if Marsh had just plunged forward with that storyline without further explanation she could have disengaged her readers, so she intersperses this Helen stuff with Matthew again. This continues until a moment when GG says that she has “A terrible secret. Changed my life.” And then next thing you know we meet Mila. Adept.
As a child I eschewed misery as a general rule. If I got even a whiff of a sense that a book wasn’t going to be pure sweetness and light, I was outta there. Pretty limiting, I know. As an adult reader, some of that remains in me, so I’m very attuned to how an author keeps a book from devolving into a misery stew. When you’re writing for the 9-12 year old crowd, how much is too much? What are you allowed to tell? Where do you draw the line sometimes? In Marsh’s case, the only other books I’d read from her were fantasies. Here, she has to grapple with the horrors of a famine. To do so, she cleverly puts up some barriers between herself and the reader. The terrible things that happen in Nadia’s village are told to us after the fact. When bad things happen to our main characters, it’s a little more bearable because they have people (though not many) that do take care of them. And there’s a happy ending to the book but it’s a bittersweet happiness. Somehow, that makes you like it all the more.
Now how do you sell this to kids? I’m not saying it doesn’t grip you from the start. As the mother of a Zelda-loving kid, I have a special appreciation in my heart for the first sentences of this pretty sophisticated novel being, “Dark Beast Ganon charged. I aimed the Bow of Light at the monster’s glowing core and jumped. I shot off one arrow, then another.” But let's face it. Some kids are going to hear the words “historical novel” and jump ship from the get go. Back in the day I did a lot of “booktalks” for kids. These are cases where you basically do a movie trailer, but as a monologue, for a book for a roomful of students. And what I love most about The Lost Year is also what’s going to sell it for them: It has a twist. Did I see the twist coming? Of course. Marsh plays fair with the reader and lays down lots of nice little clues. Still, even knowing what it was, I still felt that palpable shock when I discovered that I was right. Gotta credit the writing there.
Naturally, as a librarian my inclination is to pair this book with other titles. Interestingly, the first thing to come to mind was The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman. Again you have two girls, with two points of view, in an oppressive state, trying to make their way (only in this case they’ve escaped from Chernobyl). I was reminded too of The Genius Under the Table by Eugene Yelchin, where a boy growing up in Russia (a bit later in time than in this book) faces his deprivations with a ton of humor. Finally Cloud and Wallfish by Anne Nesbet came to mind as well. By gum, you could have yourself an incredible Cold War reading list if you truly wanted to.
I was explaining the plot of this book to my 9-year-old and the subject of Ukraine today came up and what they’re going through. When he heard that civilians were getting injured he asked, “Why doesn’t everyone just leave?” I tried to explain that it can be very difficult to leave a country and that America doesn’t take all that many refugees. He was utterly shocked. “But America’s the one country the in the world that takes everyone!” That hurt to correct, but it occurs to me that we might not have brought it up at all if I wasn’t explaining to him how hard it was for people to even leave the Ukraine in the 30s. Can you imagine all the conversations that this book will spark? That it has already sparked? So many comparisons to today. So many ways in which the problems then can mirror our problems today. Those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it. And those that don’t read their children’s historical fiction are missing out on more than they’ll ever know. A grand work of recent and distant history.
April 3, 2023
Some books are just too wonderful for a review to do them justice.
During the beginning of the COVID crisis in 2020, a young boy makes surprising discoveries about his great-grandmother’s life as a child in 1930’s Ukraine.
The notes are the end are a beautiful addition to the story, as they explain many incidents that came from the author’s family history.
This was written for a middle-grade audience, but some of the scenes and details might be upsetting for younger readers. I would recommend adult guidance, even with older readers, due to the nature of the subject.
During the beginning of the COVID crisis in 2020, a young boy makes surprising discoveries about his great-grandmother’s life as a child in 1930’s Ukraine.
The notes are the end are a beautiful addition to the story, as they explain many incidents that came from the author’s family history.
This was written for a middle-grade audience, but some of the scenes and details might be upsetting for younger readers. I would recommend adult guidance, even with older readers, due to the nature of the subject.
April 10, 2024
A new favorite MG Historical Fiction to add to my collection. Just. Amazing.
November 9, 2023
Wow. This book is going to stick with me for a while.
June 8, 2026
In "The Lost Year" thirteen-year-old Matthew is helping his Ukrainian-American great-grandmother, called GG, sort through boxes of her belongings. He comes upon an old photo of GG with her cousin when they were teenagers, and asks about their lives. Matthew is trying to fill the hours at home during the Covid pandemic, and becomes very involved in learning his family's history during the devastating famine in Ukraine in 1932 and 1933.
Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union and governed by repression. After instituting collectivization on the farms of Ukraine, Stalin sent almost all the grain to other parts of the Soviet Union or sold it to finance other projects. Over a million people starved to death in Ukraine during the Holodomor. Stalin also refused to issue visas so that the starving people could travel from the countryside to other parts of the Soviet Union. The stories of three young teenagers--GG and her cousin in Ukraine, and another cousin in New York City--during the 1930s came to life as Matthew goes through the boxes of GG's photos and other memorabilia.
The book also explores the skills of a good reporter and interviewing primary sources. Stalin had not allowed reporters into the Ukrainian countryside and just gave them an official story full of misinformation. I could see "The Lost Year" being read in schools to teach about the suppression of history, the art of accurate journalism, and the spread of misinformation by some governments.
The book contains lots of interesting historical information written for a middle school reader or older. It also has chapters about the frustrations of being isolated at home during Covid that today's teens can still remember. The book is written at a 710 Lexile level so even adults can find it fascinating. I read it for an upcoming book club discussion.
Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union and governed by repression. After instituting collectivization on the farms of Ukraine, Stalin sent almost all the grain to other parts of the Soviet Union or sold it to finance other projects. Over a million people starved to death in Ukraine during the Holodomor. Stalin also refused to issue visas so that the starving people could travel from the countryside to other parts of the Soviet Union. The stories of three young teenagers--GG and her cousin in Ukraine, and another cousin in New York City--during the 1930s came to life as Matthew goes through the boxes of GG's photos and other memorabilia.
The book also explores the skills of a good reporter and interviewing primary sources. Stalin had not allowed reporters into the Ukrainian countryside and just gave them an official story full of misinformation. I could see "The Lost Year" being read in schools to teach about the suppression of history, the art of accurate journalism, and the spread of misinformation by some governments.
The book contains lots of interesting historical information written for a middle school reader or older. It also has chapters about the frustrations of being isolated at home during Covid that today's teens can still remember. The book is written at a 710 Lexile level so even adults can find it fascinating. I read it for an upcoming book club discussion.
March 13, 2024
The past leaves indelible impressions on the present and influences the future.
I've never read anything by Katerine Marsh before, but I'll certainly be adding more of her books to my toppling and tumbling TBR after being wrecked and inspired by The Lost Year.
Spanning different eras and countries, The Lost Year gives readers a glimpse into the propaganda machines of yesterday and today and the impressions of those living through them. I loved how Marsh both showed the wholehearted devotion to "Papa Stalin" as well as the obvious lies being spread by his regime and pitted them against the current issues that came with Covid without becoming preachy about it. In fact, I'd argue that readers could come away with differing opinions of where the author stood concerning information shared during the pandemic. And that's how it should be.
I loved seeing fractured family relationships restored in natural, awkward, and healthy (eventually) ways as well as showing how those fractured relationships affect children.
And I should've caught something that I didn't. I LOVED being caught off-guard.
This book features brave children in difficult circumstances that will make you want to cheer and cry. And aren't those the best books?
I've never read anything by Katerine Marsh before, but I'll certainly be adding more of her books to my toppling and tumbling TBR after being wrecked and inspired by The Lost Year.
Spanning different eras and countries, The Lost Year gives readers a glimpse into the propaganda machines of yesterday and today and the impressions of those living through them. I loved how Marsh both showed the wholehearted devotion to "Papa Stalin" as well as the obvious lies being spread by his regime and pitted them against the current issues that came with Covid without becoming preachy about it. In fact, I'd argue that readers could come away with differing opinions of where the author stood concerning information shared during the pandemic. And that's how it should be.
I loved seeing fractured family relationships restored in natural, awkward, and healthy (eventually) ways as well as showing how those fractured relationships affect children.
And I should've caught something that I didn't. I LOVED being caught off-guard.
This book features brave children in difficult circumstances that will make you want to cheer and cry. And aren't those the best books?
Read
March 2, 2026I liked this one!
February 22, 2023
4.5-gah this was so good. I loved all the stories and the connectedness of it all plus the lesson of truth and misinformation. This is so applicable for today, especially with the Ukraine and Russia war.
April 6, 2023
⛪🌆🔔The Lost Year🔔🌆⛪
2.75 Stars
Matthew is bored at home during the coronavirus pandemic. He plays Zelda at home but is distraught when his mother takes the video game away. Now he has to hang out with GG, his grandmother. In an attempt to start a conversation, he asks his great-grandmother about her past—a past she told no one about. From there unravels a story about three girls during 1932–1933: Mila, Helen, and Nadiya. Mila helps Nadiya, a starving girl from the countryside who claims to be her cousin. When the famine spreads and many are left starving, Mila must pick a side. Meanwhile, Helen notices inconsistencies and flaws in the newspapers reporting of fake news, so she submits a request to show the truth. As their story ties together, a secret is revealed that changed the course of GG's life. Which of the girls is Matthew's great-grandmother?
The plot twist in here had me screaming while sitting on a bench at the playground! I read Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh, which I enjoyed. The Lost Year was a good book as well, but I didn't like it as much. I found the majority of the book to have good writing and a good plot, but it was just not for me. I couldn't get invested in the plot or the characters. Despite Matthew being around the same age as the other girls, he feels so much more immature and video-game obsessed. That doesn't mean he has a bad character, as he has his pros too. It does help to show how children are in this time and how the contrast between time periods and new inventions can influence the worries of a child and the ways they act. (Matthew is really into video games and worried about COVID-19, while the girls are more worried about the famine or school.)
There was not a lot of difference in Mila and Helen's perspectives. We don't get to see Nadiya until later in the story. Relationships in this book could have used more focus or exploration. I felt like Matthew's relationship with his mother and father felt rather unpolished. When his mother took Zelda away, he started thinking, I hate her. Yet that isn't really returned to in the story. For me personally, Matthew's perspective was not necessary in the story. The story would have been fine without him. It felt a lot like he existed for the "grandchild asks a family member to tell a story, and the story is told." He didn't have much of a character, but it felt a lot like he existed only for the story to be told to him.
The plot twist was done quite well. I didn't expect it all. In conclusion, this was a good story that just didn't work as well for me. ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ
🆗PLOT
🆗CHARACTERS
✅PLOT TWISTS
2.75 Stars
Matthew is bored at home during the coronavirus pandemic. He plays Zelda at home but is distraught when his mother takes the video game away. Now he has to hang out with GG, his grandmother. In an attempt to start a conversation, he asks his great-grandmother about her past—a past she told no one about. From there unravels a story about three girls during 1932–1933: Mila, Helen, and Nadiya. Mila helps Nadiya, a starving girl from the countryside who claims to be her cousin. When the famine spreads and many are left starving, Mila must pick a side. Meanwhile, Helen notices inconsistencies and flaws in the newspapers reporting of fake news, so she submits a request to show the truth. As their story ties together, a secret is revealed that changed the course of GG's life. Which of the girls is Matthew's great-grandmother?
The plot twist in here had me screaming while sitting on a bench at the playground! I read Nowhere Boy by Katherine Marsh, which I enjoyed. The Lost Year was a good book as well, but I didn't like it as much. I found the majority of the book to have good writing and a good plot, but it was just not for me. I couldn't get invested in the plot or the characters. Despite Matthew being around the same age as the other girls, he feels so much more immature and video-game obsessed. That doesn't mean he has a bad character, as he has his pros too. It does help to show how children are in this time and how the contrast between time periods and new inventions can influence the worries of a child and the ways they act. (Matthew is really into video games and worried about COVID-19, while the girls are more worried about the famine or school.)
There was not a lot of difference in Mila and Helen's perspectives. We don't get to see Nadiya until later in the story. Relationships in this book could have used more focus or exploration. I felt like Matthew's relationship with his mother and father felt rather unpolished. When his mother took Zelda away, he started thinking, I hate her. Yet that isn't really returned to in the story. For me personally, Matthew's perspective was not necessary in the story. The story would have been fine without him. It felt a lot like he existed for the "grandchild asks a family member to tell a story, and the story is told." He didn't have much of a character, but it felt a lot like he existed only for the story to be told to him.
The plot twist was done quite well. I didn't expect it all. In conclusion, this was a good story that just didn't work as well for me. ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ
🆗PLOT
🆗CHARACTERS
✅PLOT TWISTS
September 4, 2023
An excellent novel about a young boy during the early days of the pandemic who decides to explore some family history. Marsh weaves together several stories of members of the same family, one branch of which is living in Ukraine under Soviet rule in the 1930s. The Holodomor, an act of genocide perpetrated by the Soviet Union against Ukrainian people in 1932-1933, is central to the narrative. Marsh weaves her family history and memories into the novel without it feeling indulgent. She had already turned in the manuscript and received copyedits by the time Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022, making what would have already been a good novel a timely one.
The Lost Year is a great work of historical fiction for the middle-grade set. It would be a perfect choice for budding reporters! As I read, I couldn't help but think of similar books I read at this age. Multiple timelines/narratives were not nearly as popular then. Marsh employs this well in The Lost Year, and I thought the stories played off each other effectively. She doesn't undercut the emotional heart of the novel, and asks important questions about what it means to grow up in a difficult time without laying too much on the shoulders of young readers. The cover is also really lovely, representing important scenes from the book.
The Lost Year is a great work of historical fiction for the middle-grade set. It would be a perfect choice for budding reporters! As I read, I couldn't help but think of similar books I read at this age. Multiple timelines/narratives were not nearly as popular then. Marsh employs this well in The Lost Year, and I thought the stories played off each other effectively. She doesn't undercut the emotional heart of the novel, and asks important questions about what it means to grow up in a difficult time without laying too much on the shoulders of young readers. The cover is also really lovely, representing important scenes from the book.
August 24, 2024
sooooo heart-wrenching. i know stalin's done some terrible things but damn...
also, that plot twist?? did not see that coming AT ALL
battle of the books hk 2024 book #1.
also, that plot twist?? did not see that coming AT ALL
battle of the books hk 2024 book #1.
August 24, 2022
After last year's "Winterkill" by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, Katherine Marsh's "The Lost Year" is another mainstream middle-grade novel introducing Anglophone readers to the Holodomor, the genocidal Famine of 1932-1933 in Soviet Ukraine (more than 4 million Ukrainians died of hunger). By using three narrators, two timelines, and setting parts of the novel in the USA, Marsh makes the geographically and historically distant history more tangible for those unfamiliar with the Ukrainian context and showcases its global relevance. "The Lost Year" is not only captivating and readable, but it is also a must-read for everyone who wants to learn more about Ukraine and its complex relationship with Russia.
January 1, 2023
This story had me hooked from the first chapter. Told in multiple perspectives across two timelines, we learn the history of one family during the Holodomor.
We're following the perspectives of three children - Matthew, who lives in 2020 New Jersey and is living through the early days of the Covid pandemic, Helen, a Ukrainian American girl living in 1933 Brooklyn, and Mila, a young Soviet girl in 1933 Kyiv. Matthew's GG, or Great Grandmother has come to live with them during the pandemic. When his mother grounds him and takes away his switch, he spends his time helping his GG sort through her boxes of belongings. This is where he discovers a long-buried secret.
GG tells him the story of three cousins. Helen, a young girl determined to help her family in Ukraine, Nadiya, a starving Kulak, and Mila, a spoiled Soviet communist. The way the author wove these children's stories together was captivating. I literally couldn't put this book down. I really appreciated the way the author used reporting and media to tell the story. The characters in this book are so vibrant that they practically walk off the page. I loved seeing their sheer determination and will to live.
I think children will find this story fascinating. It paints a vivid picture of a devastating time period and links it to the modern day in a way that I think grounds the story for modern readers. I appreciate that the author based a lot of this story on her own family history.
We're following the perspectives of three children - Matthew, who lives in 2020 New Jersey and is living through the early days of the Covid pandemic, Helen, a Ukrainian American girl living in 1933 Brooklyn, and Mila, a young Soviet girl in 1933 Kyiv. Matthew's GG, or Great Grandmother has come to live with them during the pandemic. When his mother grounds him and takes away his switch, he spends his time helping his GG sort through her boxes of belongings. This is where he discovers a long-buried secret.
GG tells him the story of three cousins. Helen, a young girl determined to help her family in Ukraine, Nadiya, a starving Kulak, and Mila, a spoiled Soviet communist. The way the author wove these children's stories together was captivating. I literally couldn't put this book down. I really appreciated the way the author used reporting and media to tell the story. The characters in this book are so vibrant that they practically walk off the page. I loved seeing their sheer determination and will to live.
I think children will find this story fascinating. It paints a vivid picture of a devastating time period and links it to the modern day in a way that I think grounds the story for modern readers. I appreciate that the author based a lot of this story on her own family history.
May 19, 2024
This would be a good fictional introduction to the Holodomor for middle grades readers, but it's not the best YA/middle grades fiction book on the subject I've read. I would have appreciated more detail and depth in the historical sections of the book. I get why the twist was in there but I don't think it was necessary and added a soap opera-y element that detracted from the power of both Mila & Nadiya's experiences. And I'm not sure how I feel with it being tied into the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic through Matthew's experiences.
May 25, 2023
A sometimes gut-punching portrayal of a part of history, I hadn’t known about. The duel narrative interrupts what could be an otherwise overwhelming account of the Ukrainian famine in the 1930s.
Did Not Finish
January 9, 2025My thanks to libro.fm and Macmillan Audio for an ALC of this book to listen to and review.
I am going through one heck of a book slump, including audio books terrifyingly for me as I need audio books for sanity during my commute, and this book has fallen prey to the Evil known as Book Slump.
Every time I try to listen to it, I end up turning it off and turning on music or listening to silence instead. It's NOT the book, I did enjoy Matthew's portion of the story and how it was tied to his Great-Grandmother's life story, but I just couldn't get into it. I also found that the characters were true in age, which may have helped to contribute to my not wanting to listen, as 11-12 year olds don't have the life experiences to make the best decisions at times and it can get frustrating to live that age again via a book.
It's also a little known historical event that is important to educate others on, especially young readers. I had no idea that this had occurred and it was illuminating.
All evidence that this is a well written book, but it wasn't enough to break through my Book Slump ennui.
Please don't let my lukewarm attitude dissuade you from considering this book, the fault here is all mine.
No stars as it isn't the book, it's me on this one.
I am going through one heck of a book slump, including audio books terrifyingly for me as I need audio books for sanity during my commute, and this book has fallen prey to the Evil known as Book Slump.
Every time I try to listen to it, I end up turning it off and turning on music or listening to silence instead. It's NOT the book, I did enjoy Matthew's portion of the story and how it was tied to his Great-Grandmother's life story, but I just couldn't get into it. I also found that the characters were true in age, which may have helped to contribute to my not wanting to listen, as 11-12 year olds don't have the life experiences to make the best decisions at times and it can get frustrating to live that age again via a book.
It's also a little known historical event that is important to educate others on, especially young readers. I had no idea that this had occurred and it was illuminating.
All evidence that this is a well written book, but it wasn't enough to break through my Book Slump ennui.
Please don't let my lukewarm attitude dissuade you from considering this book, the fault here is all mine.
No stars as it isn't the book, it's me on this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 4, 2023
I can’t recommend this book enough! It highlights a historical event that I was completely unfamiliar with, the Holodomor, which was a famine in Ukraine in the 1930s. Ukraine, at the time, was a part of the Soviet Union, and this book traces and exposes the actions of Stalin, which led to millions of Ukrainians literally starving to death.
The story bounces back between the 1930s and the year 2020 in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, 13 year old, Matthew, is at home in the U.S. and through the extra time at home, is able to spend extra time with his great-grandmother. Their conversations take them back to the 1930s, the Holodomor, and Ukraine.
I was quickly captivated by the story and the 3 families who were impacted by the Holodomor. There were many moments in the book where I found myself asking, “What would I have done in this situation?” It was heart wrenching to learn about the famine and the atrocities inflicted by the Soviet Union in Ukraine. This was a timely read in light of the current war between Russia and Ukraine.
This is young adult fiction, but this non-young adult loved it! It reminded me of the writing and subjects of Ruta Septys’s books. If you are a Septys fan, you will love this one!
The story bounces back between the 1930s and the year 2020 in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, 13 year old, Matthew, is at home in the U.S. and through the extra time at home, is able to spend extra time with his great-grandmother. Their conversations take them back to the 1930s, the Holodomor, and Ukraine.
I was quickly captivated by the story and the 3 families who were impacted by the Holodomor. There were many moments in the book where I found myself asking, “What would I have done in this situation?” It was heart wrenching to learn about the famine and the atrocities inflicted by the Soviet Union in Ukraine. This was a timely read in light of the current war between Russia and Ukraine.
This is young adult fiction, but this non-young adult loved it! It reminded me of the writing and subjects of Ruta Septys’s books. If you are a Septys fan, you will love this one!
June 4, 2024
I found this book about life in Communist Ukraine to be rather tone deaf. Set in 2020 at the height of the COVID pandemic the story follows our modern day protagonist and tells the story of his great grandmother who lives with them as they go through her belongings. It is very preachy about listening to authorities in COVID times, mask wearing, sanitizing items that come into a home, touching elbows instead of shaking hands, etc. there was also a critical look at communism but no parallels made to the modern times of not believing everything you're told especially by authoritarian governments.
It was well written and had a good twist at the end I just think the author could have expounded more on learning how to think critically.
It was well written and had a good twist at the end I just think the author could have expounded more on learning how to think critically.
November 21, 2022
This was such a thought provoking and timely story. I loved the way the author tied the entire story together and I really think preteens will love getting to know Nadiya, Mila, & Helen's story through the lens of Matthew.
May 18, 2024
that plot twist?? absolutely amazing
January 17, 2025
This was an incredible read! I loved how the story was woven together with alternating chapters of three young teens, in two different time periods, trying to survive. I had never heard of the Holodomor before, and I’m so glad that this author told her family’s story. Highly recommend reading the Author’s Note and looking at an image of the Bitter Memory of Childhood. Definitely worth reading! 5 stars
Middle grade historical fiction about the Ukrainian Holodomor
NBA finalist young people’s lit 2023
2023
52 book #16 - author won Edgar
Pop - MC is an immigrant/refugee
Briar vine - flowing from Briar Club
Middle grade historical fiction about the Ukrainian Holodomor
NBA finalist young people’s lit 2023
2023
52 book #16 - author won Edgar
Pop - MC is an immigrant/refugee
Briar vine - flowing from Briar Club
October 26, 2023
I thought the start was a bit slow but it snowballs into an exciting end with twists and depth that made it hard to put down. The story alternates between the COVID pandemic and the 1930s when the Soviet government used propaganda to seize farmland and starve millions of Ukrainians in the process. History of despots like Stalin and the use of fake news to self-serving ends is relevant today. I’m sure this will win some award. Well written.
April 8, 2024
I was quite skeptical of this book's it started out with a video game addiction and covid😐
The history aspect was neat, although not super in depth. While I haven't heard of the Holdomor, I am not surprised that things happened in the Soviet Union that we don't know about.
I did like the somewhat character development in the modern storyline of the kids learning to appreciate what he has.
Overall, this isn't one I would recommend because there's nothing special to it.
The history aspect was neat, although not super in depth. While I haven't heard of the Holdomor, I am not surprised that things happened in the Soviet Union that we don't know about.
I did like the somewhat character development in the modern storyline of the kids learning to appreciate what he has.
Overall, this isn't one I would recommend because there's nothing special to it.
August 3, 2024
Such a great story about a time in history I didn’t know much about. The audio was fabulous and I’d definitely recommend this to older kids since some parts are tough and sad.
February 15, 2024
3
I just didn't feel it but also why did people have to bug me when I'm reading like I just don't want to go anywhere. I just want to sit down and read and not be bugged.
But also this book just made me plane mad like an airplane
I just didn't feel it but also why did people have to bug me when I'm reading like I just don't want to go anywhere. I just want to sit down and read and not be bugged.
But also this book just made me plane mad like an airplane
January 15, 2026
Even though this is fiction, it shows that if we don’t learn from history, it has a way of repeating itself.
May 6, 2024
"Světlo dlouho nevydrželo - listopadový vítr mraky rozfoukal zpátky po obloze -, ale na okamžik jsem si byl jistý, že jsou tam prabábinka, Naďa a Helen taky. Skoro jsem slyšel, jak všechny tři jednohlasně říkají: Děkuji."
Páni.
A taky díky.
Za příběhy, jež by nikdy neměly upadnout v zapomnění.
Páni.
A taky díky.
Za příběhy, jež by nikdy neměly upadnout v zapomnění.
February 12, 2024
Wow. This was incredible
February 25, 2026
This book made me unnecessarily annoyed, I was lost and didn’t enjoy this.
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