Nayberg, Yevgenia. Chernobyl, Life, and Other Disasters: A Graphic Memoir. Yevgenia Nayberg, Illus. Holiday House/Porter, 04/2026. 144pp. Graphic. Trade $24.99. 978-0-8234-6058-8. Paper $15.99. 978-0-8234-6278-0. GRADES 5–7. OUTSTANDING.
This distinctive graphic memoir recaptures the atmosphere and events of the author-illustrator’s childhood in Soviet-era Kyiv—wanting to be an artist like her mom, learning to read, growing her hair long, discovering she is Jewish, becoming a big sister, and dealing with eccentric adults in her family and at school. All this is leading up to the events of 1986, when she turns eleven and prepares to apply to the art academy and the catastrophe in Chernobyl upends the life of her family and her city. Her mom and her art teacher urge her to learn how to draw and paint in the straightforward style that will get her accepted at the academy, so that she will have the freedom to draw how she wants in the future. We as readers get to enjoy what she does with her freedom: the collage elements, such as a handwritten and illustrated list of art supplies; the dramatic pops of bright color in the overall palette of muted browns, aquas, and greens; and the somewhat stylized human figures and faces that are reminiscent of Matisse and Picasso. The wry author’s note at the end explores the funny and disturbing ways that people remember events differently or not at all, and says that she is the acknowledged historian of her family but not of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986—“And here, in my own story, I wanted to be as true to my own 11-year-old self as possible.” The author has succeeded brilliantly in this poignant, sharply observed, and frequently funny graphic memoir.
Jennifer Vetter—Montclair Elementary School / Oakland Unified School District