Review: The Genius Under the Table
The Genius Under the Table: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain
written and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
Candlewick
Category: Middle Grade
Reviewer: Stacy Nockowitz
Set in Cold War Russia, Eugene Yelchin’s The Genius Under the Table
offers middle grade readers a darkly humorous look into Yelchin’s
experience growing up in the USSR during the Cold War. Yelchin wrote and
illustrated this delightful graphic memoir, in which a young Yevgeny
Yelchin and his family go through the pains and perils of living under a
communist regime. The family- Yevgeny and his older brother Victor,
their parents, and Yevgeny’s grandmother- all sleep in one room in their
apartment bloc. They are not-very-secretly watched by their neighbor,
Blinov, who spies on everyone for the KGB. Life is especially difficult
for the Yelchins because as Jews, they are a constant target of blatant
and subversive antisemitism. But Yevgeny’s main concern is finding his
special talent. His older brother Victor is a world-class figure skater
who will enjoy many freedoms. But Yevgeny’s parents fear that without a
special talent, their younger child will never have a better life. It is
not until late in the book that they discover Yevgeny’s artistic
talent: the boy has been drawing on the underside of the family’s table
at night when he crawls under it to go to sleep.
Yelchin doesn’t pull any punches when writing about the hardships his
family experienced. Their life is colorless and bleak as a Russian
winter. But the family endures: Yevgeny’s mother adores the ballet and
brings Yevgeny to see Baryshnikov dance. His father reads poetry. And
his grandmother never loses her wry sense of humor. Readers will be
stunned and saddened by a tragic event late in the story, but Yelchin
still manages to infuse his story with hope. Yelchin’s illustrations are
charming and add a playful touch.
This memoir’s authentic rendering of Jewish life in communist Russia will captivate and educate middle grade readers. While Yevgeny’s circumstances may be nothing like their own, young readers will relate to his efforts to please his parents as well as his awkward attempts to understand his world. Eugene Yelchin’s plainspoken, unguarded writing style make The Genius Under the Table both heartbreaking and touching. The Genius Under the Table should garner strong consideration for the Sydney Taylor Book Award.
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