Review: Chernobyl, Life, and Other Disasters by Yevgenia Nayberg
Chernobyl, Life, and Other Disasters
Yevgenia Nayberg
Holiday House
Published April 14, 2026
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About Chernobyl, Life, and Other Disasters
Strong-willed Genya sets her mind to attending art school in 1980s Ukraine, amidst the turmoil of Soviet control, the Cold War, and the unfolding Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Genya—the nickname of the book’s author and story’s protagonist, Yevgenia—knows from age five that she wants to be an artist. When she turns eleven, she’ll apply to the same prestigious art school that her mother attended. But making the cut won’t be easy, especially with the school’s open-secret rule that no more than 1% of the student body can be Jewish.
