Castle of Concrete -- (Win a Signed Copy of this Book!)

My son comes home one day from an exhausting 6th-grade day and tells me about his English teacher. Mrs Katia Raina. We ended up having conversations about my son, well, because she was his teacher. I learned that she is also a writer and writing a book! We immediately hit it off because I am writing a book as well, and we become friends. The end--- just kidding!! I, of course, offer to do a review for her book when it comes out. And here we are.

On the 11th of June, 2019, Castle of Concrete will be available for purchase!

Now the interesting part in reading this is having to remember to breath at parts where the potent history in Russia is brought so potently back to life. As if you are there. And yet here we are in 2019 and having to deal with anti-semites and those that feel they have superiority. One of the quotes, that I actually got up and rummaged through my books to find a highlight for, was all about the possibility of change. Is it actually possible? Or are we, as they say on page 10, "... rebuilding a house using the same rotten wood it was built within the first place?"

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— Fired Up To Learn (@fireduptolearn) June 8, 2019

Even more so, I was growing up and was about my younger son's age when this story takes place. So we realise that the past isn't as far past us as we think. We are so keen to let the past be like the fly on the wall without acknowledging it's present presence nor its impacts. And I love that this story is like take the fly off the wall in a big room and putting it under a microscope. 

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As a teacher, I really like the extensive use of vocabulary-- that I am even learning some new words. I am more intrigued to get this book as part of my child's middle school curriculum. See the nice part about homeschooling at least one of my children, is being able to find gems like this to be able to include. 

It has the history, the Jewish slang, the extensive vocabulary, the relatability to both youth and to adults--- it's like I read it thinking "what is not included?"

The book will take you an adventure no matter who you are and engage you on Sonya's journey. 

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And those that are teenagers-- it will be speaking to you on the very level of your existence... finding yourself in a very politically charged world around you. Finding yourself when you are new to a school, new to a new city, and for some, new to a country. You will go with her on her journey, feel some of that anxiety around finding herself. 

And parents, you will feel the struggle the mum went through. How she was apart from her own daughter to help her. You will see the modern struggles of building a new family-- with a new husband and your daughter. Or maybe you work overseas and you have to send money home and you will understand the political climate as a parent, not just a child. How that affects everything. How you want your child to be proud of their heritage but also fit in. 

I am very impressed with this book. I have a hard time putting it down. It is historical yet relevant. For the parent & the teen. 

Well done Katia! 

Therefore, I give it many thumbs up! 

Book Description:

"In 1990-1991, when the history of Russia and the entire Soviet Union is being revisited and the rules are changing, a fifteen-year-old Jewish girl, Sonya Solovay, reunites with her dissident mother after twelve years of hiding out in Siberia--her life's dream realized. Still, she sees herself as a typical Soviet citizen: a shy, quiet, obedient, barely-there girl, dissolving into the past, her country's and her own. Determined to break into her new existence, Sonya tries out a shining new persona, but most of her efforts backfire. One mysterious boy notices her, wants to hear her stories, makes her feel like she is the shiniest part of his world. Everything else might as well fade away--her distant and hungry-for-gossip classmates, the equally shy Jewish friend who doesn't always seem to understand her, the growing tension with her fiercely Jewish Mama, the rumours of an impending communist coup. More and more, Sonya spends time with her "rescuer" at a construction site she calls "castle." So what if he uses an occasional anti-Semitic slur?

In the shadow of a crane, among metal pipes and concrete blocks, she finds it easy, falling, falling in love with a muddy-eyed boy she knows so little about. As for being Jewish in a country where the Republics are supposed to be "sisters" and the People brothers," what does one's nationality have to do with anything?

All the while, Sonya's mama is falling in love also: she is falling in love with shiny America, a land where being different seems to be celebrated, and not everyone is so very Russian and snow-white. The place sounds amazing, but so far away. Will Sonya ever find her way there?"

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