Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
Kataryna Baliuk, a gifted fine arts student, is hoping to have a fresh start at Cawthra School for the Arts after a less-than-successful year at the neighbouring Catholic high school.
But her hopes for a peaceful Grade 10 are shattered when she comes home from her first day at Cawthra and finds the RCMP interrogating her grandfather, Danylo Feschuk. Kat learns that Danylo is accused of being a policeman for the Nazis in World War II Ukraine, and what's worse, he is suspected of having participated in atrocities against civilians.
When the story is exposed in the local newspaper, Kat and her family become the centre of a media storm. Her grades in school and her relationships with friends suffer. Her only support comes from her family and Ian, a classmate with whom she discovers she has more in common than just artistic promise.
Editorials
Children's Literature
Last year, artistic Kat Baliuk caused an uproar at the Catholic high school she attended with her controversial sculpture of the Crucifixion. This year, she hopes to blend in with the other students at the Cawthra School for the Arts. However, when men in suits begin asking Kat's grandfather a lot of questions about his life in the Ukraine, the girl quickly comes to understand that this is not going to be a quiet year. There is no possibility of her blending in when the newspapers begin to focus on the Nazi next door, a.k.a. Kat's grandfather. As her family is swept up in the media coverage and she becomes personally consumed by the trial, Kat quickly discovers how the truth can be manipulated and innocent people railroaded. Soon, her family is left with mounting legal bills and few friends who believe in them. As she struggles through the trial, Kat learns much about her own history, her family's history, and their shared strength. Skrypuch has written a gripping, troubling and detailed novel that brings historical topics neatly into focus for modern youth. Readers are sure to be swept up in both Kat's and her grandfather's stories. 2001, Boardwalk/Dundurn, Ages 13 up.—Heidi Hauser Green