About this item
Ukrainian Canadian author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch tells a gripping story of how the Soviet Union starved the Ukrainian people in the 1930s -- and of their determination to overcome.Nyl is just trying to stay alive. Ever since the Soviet dictator, Stalin, started to take control of farms like the one Nyl's family lives on, there is less and less food to go around. On top of bad harvests and a harsh winter, conditions worsen until it's clear the lack of food is not just chance... but a murderous plan leading all the way to Stalin.Alice has recently arrived from Canada with her father, who is here to work for the Soviets... until they realize that the people suffering the most are all ethnically Ukrainian, like Nyl. Something is very wrong, and Alice is determined to help.
About the Author
Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch is the acclaimed author of 20 books for young people including her popular WWII Making Bombs for Hitler novel trilogy and her non-fiction like Adrift at Sea: A Vietnamese Boy's Story of Survival.Marsha is dyslexic and didn't learn to read until she was 9. The first book that she read and understood was Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens and reading that book over the course of a year when she was in grade 4 for the second time was a life-transforming experience. It taught her that reading wasn't just a subject in school, but an immersive pleasure. By grade 8 she had read all of the big fat novels in the children's department of the Brantford Public Library whose authors' last names started with either A, B, C or D. By grade 9 she had figured out better ways to choose books.Marsha now considers dyslexia to be a gift that helps her write the kinds of books that she does -- about people plunged in war whose stories haven't been told before and from perspectives rarely seen in children's literature. Marsha has deep respect for the intelligence and compassion of her young readers and she writes the books she wishes she could have found to read when she was a kid.Marsha loves speaking with students of all ages, especially those who are struggling academically or who feel "different".
