FICTION

The Secret of Clouds

Berkley. Feb. 2019. 384p. ISBN 9781984802620. $26; pap. ISBN 9780451490773. $16; ebk. ISBN 9780451490780. F
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Katya and Sasha Krasny immigrated to America from Ukraine after the Chernobyl disaster in the 1980s. Unfortunately, the catastrophe had an insurmountable effect on their family. Maggie Topper is a second-year sixth grade teacher in New York. Noting that she's a patient and caring teacher, the principal makes a special request of her to tutor a student in need after school. Yuri Krasny has a rare medical condition that is keeping him from attending school in person this year. Initially, Maggie has a difficult time getting Yuri to open up, but as the year continues, teacher and student form a tight bond and are frequently learning from each other. Yuri possesses a singular and older-than-his-years perspective on life while Maggie begins to reflect on her own life and is drawn to make big changes. When the unthinkable happens, everyone is shaken and relationships may be irreparably broken.
VERDICT In a change from the historical fiction of her previous works, Richman (The Lost Wife) writes a captivating and heartrending contemporary novel of making unexpected friendships and living life to its fullest. For fans of Marie Bostwick and Karen White.
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