The Lost Year is a novel based on historical events. The characters we get to know are made up but the history is accurate. The Holodomor, as this tragic event came to be known, is one most have never heard about even though four million people senselessly died as a result.

We all know the horrors of the Holocaust and the gruesome things the government did to their own people. We think this to be a one time occurrence. But no sadly, there are similar events in history.

This book is presented in multiple viewpoints about this tragic time. One of these viewpoints details our main character, Matthew, living through today’s ongoing Corona virus pandemic. 13 year old Matthew is miserable, cut off from friends, school, and all outside activities that involve anyone but his mom and grandmother. He spends hours on his Switch until his mom takes that away forcing him to find another outlet. It is 2020 at the very height of the ongoing corona virus and he and his mother are riding out the pandemic with his 100 year old grandmother. His father, a journalist, is stuck in a foreign country until the virus subsides. Well things have changed a bit but in reality, the pandemic is still raging worldwide.

Boredom causes Matthew to delve into his grandmother's unopened boxes she brought with her. These boxes are the key to learning the untold story of his grandmother’s survival of her past. As grandmother’s story, slowly unveils, we learn events through the viewpoint of two girls from the 1930s and their accounts of The Holodomor.

The Holodomor was a great famine that killed millions of Ukrainians. Matthew uncovers the impact of the famine on one family directly living through it under Stalin and through a family that was able to escape to America but is now too far away to help their starving relatives. It’s hard to understand why some people supported Stalin while others feared and hated him.

This amazing story will evoke your emotions from heart break to rage. I did find the accounts of the three perspectives to be slow at times, but the subject material is so fascinating it kept me turning pages.

Interesting, timely story moving between the recent Covid pandemic lockdown and the forced collectivization of farms in Ukraine during the 1930s. During the Covid lockdown, Matthew spends time with his great-grandmother, sorting through her boxes, and learns about her life and the lives of her cousins during the Holodomor, or Ukrainian Genocide.

Middle school students will connect with Matthew's character, and the stories of Mila, Nadia and Helen will hold their interests while teaching them about an important historical event. Definitely adding this one to the classroom library.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC.

Amazing book telling about a moment in history many do not know about. Many students learn about the holocaust in school and become enthralled in the gruesome events that they cannot believe happened. Students believe this to be a once only type of occurrence. Rarely do they learn about other similar events in history. This book provides multiple viewpoints about a time in history. A family separated by country and by time. Through these viewpoints we have our main character living through the Corona virus pandemic and learning the untold story of his grandmothers past. Through her story we hear the viewpoint of two girls from the 1930s and how the events of The Holodomor. The Holodomor being a great famine that killed millions of Ukrainians. Through the perspective of the two girls we are able to see the impact of the famine on a family directly living through it under Stalin and through a family that was able to escape but is now too far away to help. Both of these perspectives allow the reader to better understand why people would support Stalin while others feared and hated him. The narrative style of this novel allows students to build multiple viewpoints and opinions, providing multiple opportunities for discussion. This was an amazing middle grade book that everyone that does not know about this tragic event in history should read and learn more about.
Thank you Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.