writes about war from a young person's view #bannedbyrussia
I am thrilled that Kidnapped from Ukraine book #1: Under Attack has been shortlisted for both the Wyoming Indian Paintbrush Book Award and the Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Northern Lights Award. I love readers’ choice programs the best because young readers themselves select the books instead of adults on a jury.
Thank you, L.E. Carmichael, for hosting my essay on your website.
“A long as a writer is read, he’s alive.”
Freedom to Read Week is a time to remember and preserve our intellectual right to read any book we wish to.
But if the book doesn’t exist, how do we know what we don’t know?
I’d like to highlight two, whose words live beyond the grave.
When Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022, Victoria Amelina set aside her novel-in-progress and signed up with Truth Hounds to bear witness to Russian war crimes. She went into areas recently liberated by Ukrainian forces, interviewing survivors, and photographing the devastation left behind. She chronicled the lives of ordinary women who set aside who they used to be in order to resist: sometimes with a gun; sometimes with a keyboard.
A few months in, Victoria got word that Volodymyr Vakulenko, a fellow author, had been tortured and murdered. Once Ukrainian forces liberated Volodymyr’s village, Victoria volunteered to work with the Truth Hounds group that was going into that area. She interviewed both of his parents, and she discovered that Volodymyr had hidden a diary under the cherry tree just before his arrest. Victoria found it in a plastic bag, water-logged and fragile. She got it safely to the Kharkiv Literary Museum, where the words were preserved and the manuscript restored. The diary, I’m Transforming … Occupation Diary, Selected Poems, was published in Ukraine, with a foreword by Victoria. She wrote, “As long as a writer is read, he’s alive.”
Months later, Victoria was having lunch at a pizza restaurant with a group of writers.
The restaurant was hit by an Iskander missile.
To be clear, an Iskander missile is a guided missile. The Russians aimed their missile at the pizza restaurant where kids were celebrating a birthday and writers were eating lunch. The restaurant was destroyed.
Victoria died.
Her manuscript-in-progress was preserved, and her husband, along with a group of editors, assembled the fragments into a narrative. Margaret Atwood wrote the foreword. Victoria’s book, Looking at Women Looking at War, won the 2025 Orwell Prize for Political writing.
Victoria Amelina was killed for her words, but we still have the freedom to read them. I hope that you do.
Moscovy has been trying to destroy the people, culture, history and resilience of Ukraine for centuries. Ukraine bleeds, but is unbroken.
Many thanks so educator extraordinaire Oksana Levytska, her team, and her fabulous students. It was a pleasure to discuss my books set during various times in Ukraine’s history, particularly my books set during the Holodomor, and my Kidnapped from Ukraine trilogy, which is set during a time these students are all too familiar with. It was a dual presentation, with some students in person, and others attending remotely.
Copies of Under Attack, book #1 of my Kidnapped from Ukraine trilogy had been pre-purchased through Koota Ooma, my favourite Ukrainian book and gift store, so I got to know the names of each student as I signed them.
After all of the books were signed and I was packing up my things, it was thrilling to see so many students reading their brand new books — an author’s dream.
Ms Levytska invited me to attend the school’s Holodomor assembly. I was moved by students’ dedication and talent in honouring those who had perished in this genocide orchestrated by Stalin.
It was such a pleasure to speak with 7th grade students at JL Simpson Middle School this May. This is the second year in a row that I’ve virtually visited with all 11 classes. Students are well-prepared and avid readers and I really admire their teachers because they know how to combo a whole lot of learning for maximum effect. I got this package in the mail — thank you notes from the kids, and also from Jennifer, media specialist extraordinaire. But these aren’t just any thank-you notes. Students created thank you notes for me to use as thank you notes! The outside of each note card has student-created art based on a scene from one of my books. On the back of the cards is the student’s name and the name of the book that inspired their art. So a learning opportunity that combines art, literature, history, communications and courtesy! Wow!
It was such a pleasure to speak with 5th grade students from Roberts Elementary in Suwanee GA on Good Friday morning. Virtually visiting Roberts has become something of an annual tradition! Here are pics from one of the participating classes. Students asked thoughtful questions and made good connections between my WWII novels and Under Attack: Kidnapped from Ukraine, set during Putin’s current war on Ukraine.
Happy Easter, Happy Spring. Hoping and praying for a just peace in Ukraine.
Here is the core of the letter that I’ve sent to my MPP and MP. Please feel free to model your own letters from this.
There is a new pro-Russian documentary titled Russians at War currently being shown at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). This propaganda piece was partly funded by Canadian taxpayers. This is a worldwide humiliation for Canada, that we would allow public funding to normalize the genocidal acts of Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
The filmmaker is Anastasia Trofimova, a Russian Canadian. She imbedded herself into a Russian unit as they invaded Ukraine. Is it not treasonous for a Canadian to accompany the invasion of one of our allies?
Ms. Trofimova claims that she embedded herself at great personal risk. Given that an American-Russian ballet dancer was jailed in Russia for merely donating $50 to a Ukrainian charity, this claim doesn’t hold water. This filmmaker has done many documentaries for Russia Today (RT), a Russian propaganda outlet banned in Canada. This film is propaganda, with the goal of “normalizing” Russian soldiers who volunteer to go to Ukraine to rape, steal and kill. It was produced in association with TVO and BC’s Knowledge Network, and partly funded through the Canada Media Fund (CMF), that gets its funding from the federal government and telecommunications companies.
In the short term, please demand that TIFF delist the film and post a public apology.
The larger question is how did we let this happen? Canadian taxpayers’ money should not be used to fund Russian propaganda.
Love having the opportunity to speak the backmatter and acknowledgements for the audio editions of my books. Today, I did that for Kidnapped from Ukraine: Under Attack, Scholastic. Thank you, Will Crann at Catherine North Studios in Hamilton! I have deep respect for professional narrators who do this all the time.
This novel will be published on Jan 7, 2025, so imagine my surprise to see it pop up as a #1 release on Amazon.com. Yay!
