Ravel, Edeet. A Boy is Not a Ghost. Toronto: Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press, 2021.
Twelve-year-old Natt and his mother have been deported to Siberia in this sequel to A Boy is Not A Bird. It is 1941. Natt’s father has been imprisoned by the Russians, and after a long vermin-infested train journey from Ukraine, Natt and his mother are dropped off in a place where they know nobody. After Natt’s mother is falsely arrested for stealing potatoes, Natt must find a way to survive completely on his own. How does one stay invisible in a dangerous world? How does one stay alive? Written in present tense, this 230-page novel – based on the life of the author’s fifth grade teacher and supplemented by a 7-page historical appendix – is highly recommended for readers 11 years old and up.
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