The Hunger Between Us

.r 9 Up–It’s the summer of 1942 and the citizens of Leningrad are starving to death due to the Nazi siege of the city. In addition to dealing with constant hunger and grieving the loss of her mother, Liza is trying to find her best friend Aka, who has disappeared. In the quest to find her, Liza makes daring decisions, ventures to a dark place where girls are given food in exchange for “entertaining” officers and learns who can truly be trusted. Scott’s work is a page turner and won’t fail to surprise along the way. Liza and the other characters talk so frequently about food that readers will be able to truly feel their struggles with starvation. Although she is dead, Liza’s mother’s voice often plays inside Liza’s head with words of advice and guidance. Not only are her deceased mother’s thoughts italicized but so are Russian words that are sprinkled throughout the text and easily understandable.