Nayberg’s watercolor and collage art brilliantly mirrors Genya’s emotional landscape. . . . Nayberg’s depictions of her mother . . . and of friend dynamics feel wholly authentic, while the portrayal of Soviet-era antisemitism, environmental catastrophe, and casual cruelties never overwhelms the intimate story of a girl finding her voice through art amid chaos. An utterly unforgettable, achingly honest, and spectacularly crafted graphic memoir.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)`
Nayberg’s art makes subtle but striking growth as the book progresses. . . . A strong and beautifully rendered addition to graphic memoir and nonfiction middle grade collections.
—School Library Journal
The rare and artful sort of story that finds the brilliant in the banal, the hilarious in the harrowing, and universal in the personal.
—Daniel Nayeri, award-winning Author of Everything Sad Is Untrue
Yevgenia Nayberg shares the charming adventure of her life during one of the most interesting periods of our world’s history with moments of humor, melancholy, and beautiful honesty. I absolutely adored this book.
—Dan Santat, National Book Award–winning author of A First Time for Everything
Nayberg’s younger self longs to be a professional artist. Chernobyl, Life, and Other Disasters makes it clear that she reached her goal—with a gorgeously illustrated graphic novel about growing up under the shadow the Chernobyl disaster, deeply empathic and bursting with humor and personality. I loved it so. Genya is an artist to be reckoned with.
—New York Times–bestselling author-illustrator Lisa Brown
This middle grade graphic memoir never loses sight of the kid at its heart. At once singular and universal, Chernobyl, Life, and Other Disasters powerfully demonstrates that there’s nothing quite like the fallout—of being eleven years old.
—Joshua S. Levy, National Jewish Book Award–winning author of Finn and Ezra’s Bar Mitzvah Time Loop
Yevgenia Nayberg’s Chernobyl, Life, and Other Disasters focuses on one specific part of a young person’s life, yet deftly weaves in current events and family dynamics. The book is full of magic—the writing and drawing seems almost dreamlike, but anecdotes and sequences are carefully arranged to fall right into place. The color palette is muted but still somehow lively, with sketchier illustrations alongside more fully rendered art. To top it all off, the book made me laugh, especially with the constant theme of the word ‘banal.’ Bravo, Genya!
—Malaka Gharib, journalist and Arab American Book Award-winning author of I Was Their American Dream
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