My Synopsis:
Sonja has just moved to Russia. Young and Jewish, she moves in with her mother, with whom she's been estranged. The book is set in the early 90s, and the Soviet Union is collapsing. Thrust into a new school, Sonya finds herself navigating through relationships with her mother, classmates, and potential boyfriends.
Throughout the book, we see Sonya transform as she responds to anti-Semitic events. There are bits of Russian language interwoven in the story, and I did quite a bit of Googling. Although the more I learned about this time period, the more I wondered what would happen to Sonya. Not only does she have to make decisions about every-day teenager stuff-like what to wear-but, there are moments when she must make difficult choices in regards to the political turmoil happening around her.
What I Think:
This is an #ownvoices novel that features a Jewish protagonist-definitely a book gap in our classroom library. I believe this will increase awareness of this turbulent historical event.
There are many tension-filled events to keep the reader interested. And, the end!!! The last 50 pages have to be devoured all at once.
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