Siberian Haiku is a graphic novel about a deported Lithuanian family that reflects thousands of other family stories from the 20th century.
“I am Algis, but they often call me Algiukas. I have always dreamed of traveling. But it didn’t happen the way I imagined. At dawn on June 14, 1941, soldiers burst into our house and ordered us to pack up for the journey. When we left our native Lithuania, we didn’t know that hard work, hunger, and vicious, biting parasites in a cold barracks – our new home in Siberia – lay ahead of us. How will our life turn out here? Dad taught us to notice the wonders of the world, to support each other. And we try: we organize the “Apples” choir, learn to play musical instruments, and even fall in love. And we never stop hoping to return home.”
5 reasons to buy the book "Siberian Haiku":
- A comic is like a haiku - short but deep, touching but doesn't speak directly;
- The topic of deportation, which is extremely little covered in Russian-language literature;
- Unique visual embodiment, in her work on the illustrations Lina Itagaki used a lot of documentary photographs;
- The book is a winner of many awards and is included in the lists of the International Council on Books for Young People;
- One of the inspirations for the author was the film "Life is Beautiful". After all, one of the main ideas was: something beautiful can be found even in something sad and scary.
About the history of the book's creation:
Yurga's father and grandmother, who were deported to Siberia, inspired the author to write this book. Yurga's father, who lived in the village of Kalmanka, a suburb of Barnaul, said that he remembered almost nothing about the times in Siberia. One day, Yurga found her grandmother's notebook, a thin little notebook. The grandmother had made notes after returning to her homeland, they were not as scary and sad as many other books about that time. Her diary had many details, like notes about the beauty of nature and all sorts of little things that we often don't even notice. And so Yurga realized that she wanted to write a book. Much of it is true, some of it is made up...
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