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THE LOST CHILD OF CHERNOBYL by Helen Bate

THE LOST CHILD OF CHERNOBYL

by Helen Bate ; illustrated by Helen Bate

Pub Date: Sept. 1st, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-913074-71-5
Publisher: Otter-Barry

As deadly radiation spread across Eastern Europe in the wake of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, hundreds of thousands of people were forcibly evacuated from the surrounding area—but a few stubborn souls refused to leave the villages they’d rooted their lives and livelihoods in.

Bate’s graphic novel begins with a fictionalized account of two such women: sisters Anna and Klara, who struggle to make a home in the toxic, isolated environment. The story then takes a turn for the fantastical when a pack of wolves brings a silent, savage child to the sisters’ doorstep. As they care for the child and attempt to reassimilate them into human society, questions loom large: Who is this child? What happened to them, to their family? And what will happen to them now? This harried, ephemeral tale seems written with some lofty aims in mind: educating young readers on the fallout of the Chernobyl disaster and efforts to rewild lands damaged by human interference, posing questions driving at the “meaning of home” and “the place of humans in the natural world.” Unfortunately, the result falls rather short of those aims; the characters and plot threads are thinly, almost flightily sketched, making it difficult for readers to become invested in them. The decision, too, to utilize the “wild child” trope, without any acknowledgement of that trope’s storied connotations, is a strange one: It’s not precisely detrimental to the concept at hand, but it’s certainly not necessary. The story’s major redeeming factor is its art, all scratchy dark lines and muted colors, providing a suitably haunting yet hopeful atmosphere. Characters present as White.

Underwhelming.

(author's note, map) (Graphic historical fiction. 8-12)