From the author of Nowhere Boy—called “a resistance novel for our times” by The New York Times—comes a brilliant middle-grade survival story that traces a harrowing family secret back to Soviet Ukraine in the 1930s.

Thirteen-year-old Matthew is miserable. His journalist dad is stuck overseas, and his mom has moved his great-grandmother in with them to ride out the pandemic, adding to his stress and isolation.

But when Matthew finds a photo in his great-grandmother’s belongings, he discovers a clue to a hidden chapter of her past, one that will reveal a life-shattering family secret. Set in alternating timelines that connect the present day to the 1930s and the US to the USSR, Katherine Marsh’s latest novel sheds light on the Holodomor—the horrific famine that killed millions of Ukrainians.

An incredibly timely, page-turning story of family, survival, and sacrifice inspired by Marsh’s own family history, The Lost Year is perfect for fans of Ruta Sepetys's Between Shades of Gray and Alan Gratz's Refugee.

Author’s note, with photographs. Excerpt from Nowhere Boy.

POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS

Discrimination: Religious , Violence: Genocide