Narrator Michael Gallagher creates a determined voice for 12-year-old Nyl as his family experiences the horrors of Stalin’s five-year-plan in 1930s Ukraine. When two Canadians, Comrade White and his daughter, Alice, arrive at their home to persuade them to join the collective and give up their farm, everything begins to change. Soldiers start to terrorize and kill Ukrainians who oppose Stalin’s plan and people begin to starve. Gallagher captures the fear and anger Nyl carries with him through these trying times. Gallagher differentiates between characters, using a Ukrainian accent for Nyl and a Canadian accent for Alice. Listeners will be captivated by Nyl and his courageous efforts to escape the famine and inform the world of the devastation happening in Ukraine. M.D. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Nyl is just trying to stay alive. Ever since the Soviet dictator, Stalin, started to take control of farms like the one Nyl's family lives on, there is less and less food to go around. On top of bad harvests and a harsh winter, conditions worsen until it's clear the lack of food is not just chance... but a murderous plan leading all the way to Stalin.
Alice has recently arrived from Canada with her father, who is here to work for the Soviets... until they realize that the people suffering the most are all ethnically Ukrainian, like Nyl. Something is very wrong, and Alice is determined to help.
Desperate, Nyl and Alice come up with an audacious plan that could save both of them -- and their community. But can they survive long enough to succeed?
Known as the Holodomor, or death by starvation, Ukraine's Famine-Genocide in the 1930s was deliberately caused by the Soviets to erase the Ukrainian people and culture. Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch brings this lesser-known, but deeply resonant, historical world to life in a story about unity, perseverance, and the irrepressible hunger to survive.
Nyl is just trying to stay alive. Ever since the Soviet dictator, Stalin, started to take control of farms like the one Nyl's family lives on, there is less and less food to go around. On top of bad harvests and a harsh winter, conditions worsen until it's clear the lack of food is not just chance... but a murderous plan leading all the way to Stalin.
Alice has recently arrived from Canada with her father, who is here to work for the Soviets... until they realize that the people suffering the most are all ethnically Ukrainian, like Nyl. Something is very wrong, and Alice is determined to help.
Desperate, Nyl and Alice come up with an audacious plan that could save both of them -- and their community. But can they survive long enough to succeed?
Known as the Holodomor, or death by starvation, Ukraine's Famine-Genocide in the 1930s was deliberately caused by the Soviets to erase the Ukrainian people and culture. Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch brings this lesser-known, but deeply resonant, historical world to life in a story about unity, perseverance, and the irrepressible hunger to survive.
Editorial Reviews
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940175902861 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Scholastic, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 09/06/2022 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Age Range: | 8 - 11 Years |
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