The Genius Under the Table
Eugene Yelchin
Candlewick Press
Published October 5, 2021
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About The Genius Under the Table
An Association of Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor Honor Winner
With a masterful mix of comic timing and disarming poignancy, Newbery Honoree Eugene Yelchin offers a memoir of growing up in Cold War Russia.
Drama, family secrets, and a KGB spy in his own kitchen! How will Yevgeny ever fulfill his parents’ dream that he become a national hero when he doesn’t even have his own room? He’s not a star athlete or a legendary ballet dancer. In the tiny apartment he shares with his Baryshnikov-obsessed mother, poetry-loving father, continually outraged grandmother, and safely talented brother, all Yevgeny has is his little pencil, the underside of a massive table, and the doodles that could change everything. With equal amounts charm and solemnity, award-winning author and artist Eugene Yelchin recounts in hilarious detail his childhood in Cold War Russia as a young boy desperate to understand his place in his family.
My Review
I read I Wish I Didn’t Have to Tell You This by Eugene Yelchin last year, and then had the unexpected and amazing opportunity to interview him earlier this year. I’d wanted to read this book before the interview, and couldn’t make that happen, but I bought a copy to read at my earliest opportunity, and now, here we are.
It’s interesting to see the difference between the way that I Wish I Didn’t Have to Tell You This, which is for an older audience, is written versus The Genius Under the Table. Each story has an underlying current of humor and playfulness. The young adult memoir brings some of the frightening aspects of living in Soviet Russia to the forefront, whereas they’re kept a little more in the background in the middle grade memoir, though they’re still present.
As a former ballet dancer, I found the descriptions of Yevgeny’s mom’s work and her connection to Baryshnikov really interesting. I felt deeply for Yevgeny, who internalized pressure from his parents to find his artistic talent in an artistic family at a time when that could mean a huge difference to a family. I loved how that talent made itself known.
It was cool to see Yevgeny’s mom and grandmother and the similarities and differences in their characters in both books. His grandmother is probably my favorite character.
All in all, I am really glad I read this book. I loved the pairing of the text and illustrations, and the narrative’s inquisitive tone.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 10 to 14.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.
Romance/Sexual Content
None.
Spiritual Content
Yevgeny and his family are Jewish.
Violent Content
References to persecution against Jewish people in Russia.
Drug Content
One character smokes cigarettes.
Spoiler (highlight the text below to reveal the spoiler.
Death of a parent. Yevgeny’s dad dies in a chapter late in the book.
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