A harrowing and remarkable story of strength and survival.
Sisters Zhanna and Frina Arshanskaya were piano prodigies in Stalin’s Soviet Union who survived against the odds.
The Jewish Arshansky family lived in the small Ukrainian city of Berdyansk until the sisters were 8 and 6, when growing antisemitism forced them to settle in bustling Kharkov. The sisters earned scholarships to a famed music conservatory and were happy for some time. But when the Einsatzgruppen, or Nazi death squads, arrived in 1941, the family was forced on a long death march to Drobitsky Yar where nearly everyone was killed. The two girls, then 14 and 12, escaped and made it back to Kharkov. Relying on the kindness of courageous people, Zhanna and Frina obtained false papers and established new identities as Christian girls named Anna and Marina Morozova. They went on to become renowned pianists, hiding in plain sight and entertaining German audiences and Nazi soldiers across Europe. Though constantly living with the risk of discovery, they survived the war with their secret safe. Using a variety of poetry styles and direct quotes from Dawson’s mother, Zhanna, the co-authors relate the siblings’ horrific and incredible lives. While some of the verse forms seem almost too frivolous for such a serious tale, this work offers readers the truth of the Shoah in a simple and accessible format.
A harrowing and remarkable story of strength and survival. (note on names, map, authors’ note, photographs, letters, afterword, list of music, historical note, places of note, poetry notes, sources, bibliography) (Verse biography. 10-14)Pub Date: March 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-308389-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats.
Why should grown-ups get all the historical, scientific, athletic, cinematic, and artistic glory?
Choosing exemplars from both past and present, Mitchell includes but goes well beyond Alexander the Great, Anne Frank, and like usual suspects to introduce a host of lesser-known luminaries. These include Shapur II, who was formally crowned king of Persia before he was born, Indian dancer/professional architect Sheila Sri Prakash, transgender spokesperson Jazz Jennings, inventor Param Jaggi, and an international host of other teen or preteen activists and prodigies. The individual portraits range from one paragraph to several pages in length, and they are interspersed with group tributes to, for instance, the Nazi-resisting “Swingkinder,” the striking New York City newsboys, and the marchers of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade. Mitchell even offers would-be villains a role model in Elagabalus, “boy emperor of Rome,” though she notes that he, at least, came to an awful end: “Then, then! They dumped his remains in the Tiber River, to be nommed by fish for all eternity.” The entries are arranged in no evident order, and though the backmatter includes multiple booklists, a personality quiz, a glossary, and even a quick Braille primer (with Braille jokes to decode), there is no index. Still, for readers whose fires need lighting, there’s motivational kindling on nearly every page.
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats. (finished illustrations not seen) (Collective biography. 10-13)Pub Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-14-751813-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Puffin
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
A tragic, gripping, and inspiring story.
In 1979, 11-year-old Norman was the only survivor of a plane crash in Southern California: This is his true story.
This book for middle-grade readers, co-authored with Kiely, covers much of the same material as Ollestad’s 2009 memoir for adults, Crazy for the Storm. Flying in a four-seater Cessna with his father, his father’s girlfriend, Sandra, and the pilot, Norman was excited to reach Big Bear to receive his ski-racing trophy. (As a vivid example of his busy childhood, they’d driven the 300 miles there yesterday for Norman to compete—and then driven back to Topanga Canyon in the evening for his hockey game.) But the plane tragically crashed on a mountain in a blizzard. Nothing is sugarcoated; readers encounter graphic descriptions of the pilot and Norman’s dad, who died, and Sandra, who suffered a gaping head wound. Eventually accepting that he had to figure things out on his own, Norman drew upon the extreme training his father had put his “Boy Wonder” through—training that had bullied Norman into facing difficult physical and mental challenges that he feared and resented. During his trek to safety, Norman performed incredible mental and physical feats and encouraged the barely functioning Sandra—until she fell to her death. Norman’s conflicted feelings about the father he’d both idolized and resented are nuanced and satisfyingly resolved. Readers who enjoy nail-biting wilderness stories will be riveted.
A tragic, gripping, and inspiring story. (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9780374392611
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
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