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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
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THE LOST YEAR

Katherine Marsh

Thirteen-year-old Matthew is miserable. His journalist dad is stuck overseas indefinitely, and his mom has moved in his one-hundred-year-old great-grandmother to ride out the pandemic, adding to his stress and isolation.
But when Matthew finds a tattered black-and-white photo in his great-grandmother's belongings, he discovers a clue to a hidden chapter of her past, one that will lead to 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 fresh light on the Holodomor - the horrific famine that killed millions of Ukrainians, and which the Soviet government covered up for decades.

An incredibly timely, deeply powerful, 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' Between Shades of Gray and Alan Gratz's Refugee.

Katherine Marsh is an award-winning author of books for children and young adults including Nowhere Boy, winner of the Middle East Book Award; The Night Tourist, winner of the Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery; Jepp, Who Defied the Stars, a New York Times Notable; and The Door By The Staircase, a Junior Library Guild selection. A former journalist and managing editor of The New Republic, Katherine spent three years in Brussels, Belgium with her family and flock of chickens. She now lives in Washington, DC with her husband, two children, two cats, rabbit, and five chickens.
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Published 2023-01-17 by Roaring Brook/Macmillan

Comments

Katherine Marsh tackles a heart wrenching slice of history with an unwavering gaze and great empathy. Be forewarned: this book will change you.

THE LOST YEAR is both timeless and timely, a tapestry woven of complex lives in a loving family over generations. Katherine Marsh is a genius for creating people that feel real in a story that feels magical.

czech: Argo ; France: Gallimard Jeunesse; Poland: Widnokrag ; Romania: Grupe Editorial Art

Affecting... reminds us that history is a collection of stories, and it matters enormously who gets to tell them. Compelling and timely...

Marsh's novel, inspired by the struggles of her own Ukrainian grandmother's family, is a haunting story of survival in which children's anxieties... are masterfully wrapped in layered prose. It is also an engrossing mystery that kept me on the edge of my seat... Read more...