Told in alternating points of view between 2020 and 1930s Ukraine, this is a hard read but an important one. Personally, I didn't know about this aspect of Ukrainian history, and the author's note explains why. Framing this by having Matthew hear this story from his great-grandmother makes the overall story relatable, and almost more heartbreaking in the fact that she never told anyone her full story.

Matthew's struggles with the COVID pandemic will also be relatable to middle grade readers, though I find a lot of kids and teens don't necessarily want to read about that yet (still too fresh, I'm guessing). But putting these two historical events together makes sense, especially in showing how they affected children/young teens.

I can definitely see why this was nominated for the National Book Award. Though I do think it's one of those books that more adults will read than kids.