Review: Standing Together: The Story of Natan Sharansky
Standing Together: The Story of Natan Sharansky
by Leah Sokol
Green Bean Books, 2024
Category: Middle Grade
Reviewer: Stacy Nockowitz
Buy at Bookshop.org
Standing Together is a biography of refusenik and human rights leader Anatoly Sharansky, who would later change his name to Natan Sharansky and fight for the freedom of Jews in the former Soviet Union. Sokol’s book follows Sharansky’s life from his childhood in Soviet Ukraine through his harrowing years as a political prisoner in a Russian jail to his role today as a Jewish advocate for freedom across the world. The book is important because it’s unlikely that young readers have ever heard of the refuseniks, and Sharansky is a genuine contemporary hero. Sokol does not shy away from discussing the truly difficult times of Sharansky’s life, particularly his years in jail, where he endured the “punishment cell” and psychological torture from the KGB. However, everything is described in an age-appropriate way that emphasizes Sharansky’s mental fortitude rather than any violence to which he was subjected. The book is also a love story, as it tells about Sharansky’s wife Avital and how she tirelessly fought for her husband’s release. Photographs with well-written captions act as a supplement to the text, showing how once he was released, Sharansky worked with people at the highest levels of government and public policy throughout the world.
Sharansky’s Jewish heritage is central to Standing Together. The book teaches how Jews were treated in the Soviet Union, and what they were forced to endure because of “the fifth line problem,” which referred to the fifth line on people’s identity papers that marked them as Jews. Sharansky is a role model for Jewish children due to his strength of conviction, even as his captors sought to strip him of his Jewish identity. Standing Together will make an excellent addition to any library’s biography section, as it presents a shining example of unwavering courage in the modern world.
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Standing Together is a biography of refusenik and human rights leader Anatoly Sharansky, who would later change his name to Natan Sharansky and fight for the freedom of Jews in the former Soviet Union. Sokol’s book follows Sharansky’s life from his childhood in Soviet Ukraine through his harrowing years as a political prisoner in a Russian jail to his role today as a Jewish advocate for freedom across the world. The book is important because it’s unlikely that young readers have ever heard of the refuseniks, and Sharansky is a genuine contemporary hero. Sokol does not shy away from discussing the truly difficult times of Sharansky’s life, particularly his years in jail, where he endured the “punishment cell” and psychological torture from the KGB. However, everything is described in an age-appropriate way that emphasizes Sharansky’s mental fortitude rather than any violence to which he was subjected. The book is also a love story, as it tells about Sharansky’s wife Avital and how she tirelessly fought for her husband’s release. Photographs with well-written captions act as a supplement to the text, showing how once he was released, Sharansky worked with people at the highest levels of government and public policy throughout the world.
Sharansky’s Jewish heritage is central to Standing Together. The book teaches how Jews were treated in the Soviet Union, and what they were forced to endure because of “the fifth line problem,” which referred to the fifth line on people’s identity papers that marked them as Jews. Sharansky is a role model for Jewish children due to his strength of conviction, even as his captors sought to strip him of his Jewish identity. Standing Together will make an excellent addition to any library’s biography section, as it presents a shining example of unwavering courage in the modern world.
Are you interested in reviewing books for The Sydney Taylor Shmooze? Click here!
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