Iām the author of multiple middle grade and YA historical novels, including Torch, which won the 2023 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature. Torch takes place in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, and it is especially timely in the face of the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Bear (a popular symbol of the Russian Empire) has mauled many of its neighbors in the past century, not only Czechoslovakia and Ukraine but also the Baltic countries that, like Ukraine, were incorporated into the Soviet Union and the other Eastern European countries that were part of the Soviet bloc until the fall of Communism in 1989.
For those who like their history infused with magic, this historical fantasy set in Hungary in 1956 introduces Jewish folklore and history along with the lives of Hungarians fighting for their freedom.
Csilla and her aunt have tickets out of the country, but news about her parentsāexecuted by the previous Soviet-backed regimeāalong with the student uprising and two beautiful and mysterious strangers compel her to stay despite the specter of a bloody Soviet invasion.
A tumultuous tale of the student-led 1956 Hungarian revolutionāand an all too timely look at the impact of Communism and the USSR in Eastern Europeāset in a fabulist, colorless post-WWII Budapest from Sydney Taylor Honor winner Katherine Locke.
āA haunting, beautiful read that centers queer Jewish characters.ā āBuzzFeed
In the middle of Budapest, there is a river. Csilla knows the river is magic. During WWII, the river kept her family safe when they needed it most--safe from the Holocaust. But that was before the Communists seized power. Before her parents were murdered by the Soviet police. Before Csilla knew thingsā¦
