I enjoyed reading Breaking Stalin’s Nose and using it as a read aloud and history lesson with my kids when I homeschooled them. So when I saw that Eugene Yelchin wrote an autobiography for kids I had to read it. If you don’t know, I lived for a semester in the Crimea in the 1990s. It always puzzled me how so many of my Russian friends looked back on life under communism with nostalgia. But perhaps we all cling to what we know best.
Breaking Stalin’s Nose captured that worldview so well: the realistic way that after living under such a repressive regime, people either absorbed the propaganda or quietly subverted it.
This is a story of a family who did the second.
Synopsis of The Genuis Under the Table*
With a masterful mix of comic timing and disarming poignancy, Newbery Honoree Eugene Yelchin offers a memoir of growing up in Cold War Russia.
Drama, family secrets, and a KGB spy in his own kitchen! How will Yevgeny ever fulfill his parents’ dream that he become a national hero when he doesn’t even have his own room? He’s not a star athlete or a legendary ballet dancer. In the tiny apartment he shares with his Baryshnikov-obsessed mother, poetry-loving father, continually outraged grandmother, and safely talented brother, all Yevgeny has is his little pencil, the underside of a massive table, and the doodles that could change everything. With equal amounts charm and solemnity, award-winning author and artist Eugene Yelchin recounts in hilarious detail his childhood in Cold War Russia as a young boy desperate to understand his place in his family. (from Amazon)
My Take
This book tells the story of what it was like being Jewish in 1970s Russia. Sometimes people have the impression that communism was thawing by then, but that is not true. Yegeny’s family won’t even tell him what happened to his grandfather, who presumably dissented.
A few highlights:
1. Even though this book is heavy with the hardships of living under communism, it offers hope. Yegeny’s quest to find his own talent, rivalry with his brother, and insecurities about his parents’ approval will be relatable to kids no matter where they live.
2. Characters are memorable and brought to life in Yelchin’s sharp and funny drawings.
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| Yelchin's drawing of his brother ice skating behind a truck. Oy! |
3. Although the book shows bleakness and despair, Yelchin lightens the darkness of the time with sharp descriptions and humor.
4. Grandma provided a nice counterpoint and an encourager for Yelchin.
5. I enjoyed the side story about Michel Barishnikov!
What I loved about this book is that I hope by reading it, North American middle-grade readers will not only get a glimpse of a vastly different culture but also see how communism affects an entire culture. Even though it’d been four years since communism fell, when I was in the Crimea, the fear of being singled out lived on. Every time I hear people say that communism is a beautiful dream, I flinch.
Yelchin also has a graphic novel sequel to Genuis, I Wish I Didn't Have to Tell You This.* This was a moving read, but a little bit darker in tone. Definitely YA.
Max’s take (out of a 5 bone scale)
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| Max, the Reading Dog |
🦴🦴
No dogs in this one! But my mom said when she was in the Crimea, she attended a dog birthday party! How I would’ve loved to have been there!
Your Turn:
Have you read any good nonfiction lately?
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