Author Description

How far would you be willing to go to secure your freedom? Katya thought she knew what it meant to be free. It wasn't until she left home that she realized she didn't-and that she'd never been free. It's 1970, and the Soviet Union is at its height. Katya Belikov is an ordinary eleven-year-old Jewish girl living with her parents and her Savta in St. Petersburg. The threat of the KGB looms large over Katya and her friends and family. She faces discrimination from her peers at school, and life isn't always easy. One day, a KGB officer shows up at the Belikovs' apartment, and before she knows it, Katya's life is turned upside down. Determined to build a better life for their family, Katya's father decides that they all need to relocate. He and Katya's mother are denied exit visas, so Katya and her Savta must embark alone on a train journey throughout Eastern Europe, towards Vienna, Austria, in the hopes of eventually reaching Toronto, Canada. Katya doesn't understand why they need to leave. But everything she witnesses throughout her journey opens her eyes to the many ways in which she and her family have always been treated differently from others. Katya and Savta come across unsavoury characters who would heed their progress, but they also make friends and find help in unexpected places. Join Katya and Savta on their journey of hope as they make their way out of oppression and toward freedom.