Escape from Chernobyl

With appreciation for the attempt to make painful moments in history accessible to your audiences, this book doesn’t quite hit the mark…

Author:

Andy Marino

Historical Fiction
Novels

15+
Family
Friendship
Science

Buy this Book:

amazon.com

SYNOPSIS

The book takes place on the fateful day of April 26, 1986.

Yuri, an 18-year-old bright and knowledgeable intern at Chernobyl, is within striking distance of the explosion of the nuclear reactor.

Severely injured, he desperately attempts to save the lives of workers around him.

Macabre Communist Party leaders downplay the severity of the accident to prevent residents from evacuating and workers from seeking help.

Warned by a friend, Yuri’s relatives (who he is living with) manage to skip town, while a conscientious Chernobyl scientist secretly seeks help from Moscow officials and ensures that the town is evacuated. These treasonous acts are all severely punished.

Discovered by his friends, Yuri dies of his wounds shortly afterwards.

PERFECT AGE 15+

PROCEED WITH CAUTION

This is a heavy, heavy read – even recognizing that the topic warrants lots of discomfort. A LOT happens in ~180 pages and for readers without prior knowledge of Chernobyl’s history, I suspect the storyline will get disorienting quick. A lot of challenging material is included – see Watch Out For section below. I’d recommend using other sources on the topic for young readers or readers unfamiliar with the history of Chernobyl.

We love

The idea to make this historical moment accessible to young audiences is excellent. Getting the execution just right is very tricky.

WATCH OUT FOR (Language, Big / Sensitive Topics, Outdated Concepts):

Graphic descriptions of bodily damage – e.g., someone’s face falling apart, the protagonist about to cut off two fingers to free his hand trapped in debris
Disregard for human health and leaders’ cruelty when forbidding people to evacuate
Vivid description of an almost-execution, reference to another character’s actual exectuion
Two of the young characters hitch a ride with a shady stranger, get harrassed by him and after fleeing his car witness him get shot by a stray bullet.