Published by Roaring Brook Press

Summary:  During the 2020 pandemic lockdown, Matthew is stuck at home with his harried mother and his 100-year-old great-grandmother, GG.  After too many hours in front of screens, Matthew loses his video game privileges and is ordered to help GG sort through her boxes of possessions.  When he discovers photos of her as a girl with another girl named Helen, Matthew begins to ask questions.  Reluctantly at first, GG begins the story of three cousins: Mila, a wealthy girl living in 1930’s Ukraine with her father, a devoted Soviet official; Helen, living in Brooklyn during the Great Depression; and Nadiyah, a peasant girl facing starvation during Holodomor, the Ukrainian famine caused by Stalin’s policies.  The narratives slowly reveal a secret GG has kept for decades, and by the end both she and Matthew are ready to share her story with the rest of the family.  Includes several pages of additional historical information.  368 pages; grades 4-8.

Pros:  I’d love to see this well-written, extensively researched book considered for a Newbery.  In addition to the main plot, which is super engaging and had a twist that completely blindsided me, there’s an interesting subplot about journalistic integrity and efforts (largely successful, unfortunately) to suppress the story of the Holodomor.

Cons:  I personally enjoyed the connection to 2020, but I saw some reviewers on Amazon who didn’t like that, and, as I’ve mentioned before, I find pandemic books to be a hard sell to the kids at my school.