Knyzhka Corner Audio Bookshelf «

Knyzhka Corner Book Review: “Swimming with Spies”

September 3, 2025 Pawlina Blog Posts, Features, Knyzhka Corner Audio Bookshelf

A story of courage and loyalty as Crimea falls under occupation, Swimming With Spies follows Sofiya’s fight to protect her beloved dolphins in a gripping tale inspired by real events. ********************************* In this edition of Knyzka Corner, we will be discussing Swimming With Spies, a novel for young readers by Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger. Swimming With Spies is set in 2014 Sevastopol, Crimea and is based on the true story of Ukraine’s dolphins being confiscated by Russia for military purposes. 12-year-old Sofiya has a close relationship with her father who is manager of a dolphinarium. Her father is dealing with his own angst because his Russian wife has abandoned the family. Sofiya also lives with her Baba, a scientist who inspires her future career choices. Sofia loves her life in Crimea, “Our hearts are here. This is our home. These dolphins are my family.” (p. 35) However, her life is complicated by Russian schoolyard bullies led by her former friend Ilya Ilyich. When the Russian government under Vladimir Putin annexes Crimea from Ukraine, Sofia is devastated. As the annexation evolves, Sofia must deal with changes to the political situation in Crimea, as well as fearing that the new Russian leaders will shut […]

Knyzhka Corner Book Review: “Kidnapped from Ukraine: Under Attack”

May 5, 2025 Pawlina Knyzhka Corner Audio Bookshelf

In this edition of Knyzka Corner, we will be discussing Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch’s novel, Kidnapped from Ukraine: Under Attack. In this novel, Skrypuch describes the horrific human impact of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022. His first invasion occurred in 2014 when he took Crimea and portions of Eastern Ukraine. She explores how this invasion changed the lives of 12-year-old twin sisters Rada and Dariia Popkova from Mariupol. Skrypuch explains her own reaction to these events in the Author’s Note, “I never thought I would write a book about a war as it was happening…I am writing this note in January 2024. Ukraine is still standing. “ (p. 303) As the invasion begins in Mariupol, Dariia and her family are appalled. Most people in Mariupol spoke Russian, and believed they were neighbors of Russia – not their enemies. Dariia and her mother go to the store to stock up on food, while her father and Rada stay in their apartment. However, while they are out shopping, the bombs start to fall. “Our plan was to go in the general direction of Azovstal but to find temporary shelter along the way.” (p. 15) They land […]

Knyzhka Corner Book Review: “The Torture Camp on Paradise Street”

December 2, 2024 Pawlina Audio Vault, Knyzhka Corner Audio Bookshelf

In this edition of Knyzka Corner, we will be discussing Stanislav Aseyev’s, The Torture Camp on Paradise Street. The Torture Camp on Paradise Street, translated by Zenia Tompkins and Nina Murray and published by the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University, is a personal memoir of Stanislav Aseyev’s two and a half years in illegal captivity, most of it at the site of the defunct insulation factory, Isoliatsia (Isolation), in the city of Donetsk. This secret prison in the heart of Donetsk was called the “Donetsk Dachau” because of the unspeakable torture that was endured by its prisoners. Thanks to Aseyev’s efforts, the prison’s supervisor Denys Kulkovskyi (Palych) was arrested in Kyiv in November 2021. The book began with Aseyev’s arrival at Isolation Prison at 3 Paradise Street. He soon realized that he was in a facility for prisoners charged with espionage, terrorism, and extremism. While in prison, Aseyev was sentenced to two 15-year terms for his work as a reporter. The conditions he endured were horrific. The aim of the prison administration was to terrorize its prisoners. “Isolation administration’s main job was to train the inmates to fear: constantly, without respite, day and night (because fear could manifest as […]

In Isolation – Dispatches from Occupied Donbas

December 1, 2024 Pawlina Audio Vault, Knyzhka Corner Audio Bookshelf

In this edition of Knyzka Corner, we will be discussing Stanislav Aseyev’s, In Isolation – Dispatches from Occupied Donbas. In Isolation – Dispatches from Occupied Donbas, translated by Lidia Wolanskyj and published by the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University, outlines the experiences of journalist and patriot Stanislav Aseyev as he faces repression, war, captivity, and torture in Donbas. He spent more than a year in a prison “for exceptionally dangerous persons” in the city of Donetsk until he was released in a prisoner swap in December 2019. His experiences in his native Donetsk give readers a window into the complicated realities of life in Donetsk after the Russian occupation of 2014. “The essays are an attempt to comprehend not just the Soviet past but its latest transformation in Moscow’s massive propaganda war. After all, the challenges that Ukrainian society has faced on the territory of the Donbas with the start of the war are not exclusively a problem for Ukrainians: the mechanisms of lies and disinformation that I bring up in my writing are used in a variety of forms in many wars around the world – military, informational, and hybrid.” (p. xiv) The book begins with a chronology […]

Ukrainian Jewish Heritage Book Review: Rebbe

April 9, 2024 Pawlina Knyzhka Corner Audio Bookshelf, Ukrainian Jewish Heritage

In this edition of Ukrainian-Jewish Heritage, we will be discussing Joseph Telushkin’s biography, Rebbe – The Life and Teachings of Menachem M. Schneerson, The Most Influential Rabbi in Modern History. Rebbe examines the life and teachings of one of the most prominent and respected Jewish scholars of our time. Born in 1902 in Nikolayev in southern Ukraine, Schneerson came to lead the powerful Jewish organization named Chabad. He spent most of his life in a small synagogue in Crown Heights Brooklyn, but he was very influential in both the United States and Israel. He advised prominent world leaders and ordinary citizens alike, and encouraged them to lead more meaningful and selfless lives. He became, “A Rebbe for the New World.” (p. 3) His primary aim as spiritual leader for over forty years was to work tirelessly to become “a global ambassador for Judaism.” (p. 5) Just a few months after his death in 1994, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest American award granted to a civilian. His humility, hard work, and innovative leadership had an extraordinary impact not only on Jews, but also on non-Jews. He preached unconditional love for all Jews and widely expanded […]

Knyzhka Corner Book Review: Putin’s War on Ukraine

March 30, 2024 Pawlina Knyzhka Corner Audio Bookshelf

In this edition of Knyzka Corner, we will be discussing Samuel Ramani’s book Putin’s War on Ukraine – Russia’s Campaign for Global Counter-Revolution. Published in 2023, Samuel Ramani’s Putin’s War on Ukraine is a comprehensive analysis of the causes, events, and impacts of Putin’s “special operation.” The very first sentence of this book is a stark reminder of how Putin’s war on Ukraine began, “On 24 February 2022, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced the start of a special military operation aimed at the ‘demilitarization and denazification’ of Ukraine.’ (p. 1) The first chapter outlines the structure of Ramani’s book. The next three chapters discuss the history of Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine. They explain the Russian efforts to overturn the Euro-Maidan Revolution and prop up the government of Victor Yanukovich, the subsequent Russian takeover of Crimea and parts of Eastern Ukraine, and the runup to Putin’s decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The next three chapters outline the inadequacies of Russia’s military forces, its losses and successes on the battlefield, and the results of Ukraine’s counteroffensive. The final chapters describe the results of Putin’s failed invasion, the impact of sanctions on the Russian economy, and […]

Knyzhka Corner: Holodomor in Ukraine – The Genocidal Famine 1932-1933

November 27, 2023 Pawlina Features, Knyzhka Corner Audio Bookshelf

In this edition of Knyzka Corner, we will be discussing Valentina Kuryliw’s Holodomor in Ukraine – The Genocidal Famine 1932-1933. Holodomor in Ukraine provides, “Learning Materials for Teachers and Students,” but any reader would learn a great deal from this resource, which is a thorough examination of the Holodomor in Ukraine during the years 1932-1933. It does not pretend to be “a narrative or a comprehensive account of all aspects of the Holodomor,” but it does provide a great deal of detail about causes, events, timelines, and the results of this horrific episode in Ukrainian history. Valentina Kuryliw originally created this resource for her workshop, “The Unknown Genocide: The Holodomor in Ukraine 1932-33,” which she presented at the Ontario History and Social Studies Teachers’ Association Conference in 2008. It includes materials for teachers to use in their classrooms such as: primary resources, lesson plans, background information, timelines, and learning activities. Taking a cross-curricular approach, Kuryliw has developed a very useful resource which can be used across Canada and the United States at a variety of grade levels. The resource is divided into four sections: introduction, learning resources, learning activities, and appendix. Each section is full of information essential to a […]

Knyzka Corner Book Review: Firebird

September 10, 2023 Pawlina Knyzhka Corner Audio Bookshelf

In this edition of Knyzka Corner, we will be discussing Glen Huser’s novel, Firebird. Fourteen-year old Alex Kaminsky and his older brother Marco live with their Uncle Andrew on an Alberta farm. Marco is a talented artist, but he decides he must find work with a threshing crew in September 1915. One night in early December, Alex’s uncle drinks too much moonshine and falls into a deep sleep. During the night, the house catches fire and he perishes. Alex is badly burned but manages to get out of the house. His neighbours, the Wallaces, take him home to nurse him back to health. As he recovers, he remembers the tragedy of his family journey to Canada, and the deaths of his parents in Hamburg. “The medicine hadn’t helped. Both he and Marco had tried desperately to nurse them, but Mama slipped away first and three days later Tato closed his eyes for the last time.” (p. 25) When the Wallace family learns about the death of their oldest son Robin, who was fighting in Europe, they are devastated. Suddenly, Alex feels as if some of the family is blaming him for Robin’s death, just because he came from Eastern Europe […]

Knyzhka Corner Book Review: Winterkill

August 10, 2023 Pawlina Features, Knyzhka Corner Audio Bookshelf

In this edition of Knyzka Corner, we will be discussing Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch’s novel, Winterkill. Winterkill examines the experience of Ukrainians during the Holodomor of the 1930’s. The narrative describes the conscious choice of Russian Soviet authorities to starve Ukrainian farmers and their families in order to impose Stalin’s five-year plan. “It was supposed to modernize the Soviet Union but actually hurt people like us. He was taking away our farms and making them into one big collective farm – the kolkhoz.” (p. 3) Twelve-year old Nyl lives with his family in the village of Felivka, near Kharkiv in Soviet Ukraine. It is 1930, and Soviet authorities are visiting farms to catalogue the possessions of Ukrainian farmers. One day, two strangers from Canada appear. Alice is a Young Pioneer, and her father works for the Soviets. They have come all the way from Canada to implement Soviet plans to collectivize farms. Alice tells Nyl, “We’re helping with the drive to get people signed up for the kolkhozes.” (p. 4) As the pair catalogue all his family’s possessions, Nyl realizes nothing will ever be the same. The brutal collectivization process continues, and everything is questioned – religion, family, beliefs, education, individual […]

Knyzhka Corner Audio Bookshelf: Canada and the Ukrainian Crisis

September 27, 2022 Pawlina Knyzhka Corner Audio Bookshelf

In this edition of Knyzka Corner, we will be discussing Canada and the Ukrainian Crisis by Bohdan Kordan and Mitchell Dowie. Canada and the Ukrainian Crisis examines how Canada supported Ukraine after Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the destabilization of Donetsk and Luhansk in 2014. This bilateral relationship has continued to evolve as it adapts to the changing realities in Ukraine, “We acknowledge that the world is increasingly defined by rapid and significant change, and that Russia’s attempt at rewriting the international rules of the road represents a particular challenge to Canada’s interests.” (p. x) Since 1991 when Ukraine gained its independence from the Soviet Union, Canada has had a close relationship with Ukraine. Under both Liberal and Conservative governments, Canada provided Ukraine with economic and political aid. However, in 2014 under Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, there was a significant change in support. “Responding to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Prime Minister Stephen Harper took measures expressing Canada’s solidarity with the new Ukrainian government while demonstrating Canada’s disapproval of and opposition to Russia’s actions.” (p.3) The Harper government’s statements and actions were both “candid” and “bellicose” in their response to Russian aggression in Ukraine. Kordan and Dowie’s Canada and the […]

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