THE LOST YEAR A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine

Narrators Anna Fikhman, Christopher Gebauer, and Jesse Vilinsky combine talents in this compelling mix of contemporary and historical fiction, which takes place in part during the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s. Gebauer is convincing as Matthew, a teen stuck at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic who misses his father, a reporter on assignment. Worse yet, his mother insists he help his 100-year-old great-grandmother, Nadiya, sort through old boxes. An old photo prompts Nadiya to share her painful history with Matthew. In connected stories, Vilinsky is smug and self-assured as Mila, a Soviet girl in Kyiv in 1932. Fikhman is the no-nonsense voice of Helena, a girl living in New York at the same time. Russian and Ukrainian accents help set the scene as Nadiya's story unfolds. Katherine Marsh reads the author's note. L.T. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2023]