If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.  Rudyard Kipling 

NEW MIDDLE GRADE NOVEL—INSPIRED BY MY CHILDHOOD HEROINE, NANCY DREW—COMES OUT IN THE FALL! 

Check out my discussion guides to supplement your reading. I'd be happy to visit your classroom, book club, or seniors' group to facilitate conversation around the ugliness of war ... on all sides. 

Stories, like bread, are better when shared. 



  Ronsdale Press

From East Prussian Refugee to Soviet Starosta January, 1945

Book Trailer

 Katya's attempt to flee the Red Army fails and she's dragged 2800 kilometres east to a coal mine in the Ural Mountains.

Thanks to the cover designer, Julie Cochrane, for including my mother's POW release paper on the cover. 

 REVIEWS

* A CCBC (Canadian Children's Book Centre) Best Books' selection, Spring, 2023

youngadulting.ca: "I appreciated every moment of Katya’s experience and learned a great deal along her journey of the Second World War."

* 49th Shelf, Top Grade Pick for Winter, 2023, Young Adult.

* 5 Stars and "Highly Recommended" in CM Review, January 27, 2023 

* "An engaging story from the start ..." in BookList . (American Library Association)

* "Difficult, harsh, and worthy of attention." Kirkus Reviews.

 "A story of resilience and survival... unique perspective...indelible images." Barbara Nickel, BC & Yukon Book Prize recipient & author of  Dear Peter, Dear Ulla

I'm immensely grateful to  Dr. Mateusz Swietlicki, (link to his lecture at the HREC - Holodomor Research & Education Consortium). As Assistant Professor at the University of Wrocław's Institute of English Studies and Director of the Center for Young People's Literature, Dr. Swietlicki validates my work by referenching all four of my novels in his study of children's Ukrainian history alongside a wide swath of Canadian authors. His textbook— Next-Generation Memory and Ukrainian Canadian Children's Historical Fiction: The Seeds of History—encourages storytellers to keep listening and to keep sharing through the power of story. 

Dr. Swietlicki's newest text, Land Deep in Time, Canadian Historiographic Ethnofiction, devotes an entire chapter to the issue of homelessness (See Ch. 8) as expressed in my family-inspired novels.

Crow Stone's launch (13.01.23) featured a conversation with my oldest daughter, focusing on the dynamics & value of family history. Available on McNally Robinson's YouTube link. 

Thank you to McNally Robinson for giving local bookworms a welcoming community & thank you to those who attended, in person and online.                                                        

Here's a link to my part in this YA author conversation.

Visit  Ronsdale's Youtube channel to preview more of their recent historical releases.

Culture to Go  Kultur. Geschichte. Menschen. A German podcast series where I'm interviewed by Carlos Mühlhaus from Hessen for their podcast/YouTube series discussing memories focused on homelessness, displacement and war.



trailer produced by R Camelin (in Yarmouth)
 


                 THANK YOU ... 
to the Brock House Society in Vancouver, BC, for letting me share Katya's story as part of their Esther Birney lecture series in time for Remembrance Day and to Canada Council for their financial support in helping writers share their stories.                       

Thanks to those who attended by BookChat with the MANITOBA WRITERS' GUILD ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12.2023. 

Good conversation! 

        

Ronsdale Press, July, 2021
               

Tainted Amber  - third book in my series exploring the tumultuous life of my mom during the Stalin and Nazi years. It's 1937 and Katya is now 18, working as a maid  in rural East Prussia. 

Being young and in love can be a wonderful thing but in 1937, in the Third Reich, it's all about genetics not romance. 

      Order here or at your own favourite bookstore. 



      REVIEWS

  • 4 Stars and "Highly Recommended" in CM Review.  April, 2022. 
  • CCBC (Canadian Children's Book Centre), Best Books' selection. Spring, 2022.    
  • "Goldstone deftly plunges the reader into a past when Hitler's ideas seemed new and fresh. A timely read."   Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, multi-award- winning of author of historical fiction.                              

For a taste of the book, here's a link to Made in Manitoba Book Jam hosted by Anita Daher. My reading starts at about the 23 minute mark.

Here's an interview I did with nfreads.com

Recording of July, 2021 launch available on YouTubeThanks to Jodi Carmichael who interviewed me. Grateful to McNally Robinson Booksellers for hosting the event. Thank you to all who attended!      

                            


 





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