Winterkill by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch - ESSENTIAL

 Winterkill by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, 288 pages. Scholastic, 2022. $21

Language: G (0 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content:G ; Violence: PG (wars deaths mentioned, some shot on pages) 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL – OPTIONAL. MS - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

12yo Nyl lives with his family on their farm in the 1930s in the area of the Soviet Union that used to be Ukraine. The USSR has sent in “shock” workers into their village to inventory goods and eventually force private farmers to consolidate with the communes. After their harvest is stolen, Nyl’s family realizes that the ultimate goal of the USSR is to drive them from their land – now the only rule of the game is survival. 

Skrypuch gives us a look at Stalin’s 5-year plan to starve out ethnic Ukrainians and move in Russian nationals, the Holodomor, or the Great Famine. Again Skrypuch pulls us into the complexity of Russian/Ukrainian history as she has through her other books. Gut-wrenching and oh so interesting! I have several students who read every one of her books. 

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS