1930s. The peaceful life of a Moscow family is shattered by a verdict of 'traitor to the Motherland.' Five-year-old Elya and her mother are exiled to Kyrgyzstan, where they return to normal life with only a knapsack of belongings. They return repeatedly, as circumstances plunge them into an unknown and far from easy 'tomorrow' time after time. Day after day, year after year. And this is not a fiction, heavily embellished by the author, but the true story of a girl, Stella Nudolskaya, and her family. You read and are amazed by the strength of the human spirit, and after reading, you see the world and people a little differently. More multifaceted and better.
'Sugar Child' is not a memoir in its purest form, but it is not fiction either: despite the story being told from the perspective of little Eli, the author does not offer a 'childish perspective' on the history of the 1930s and 1940s, nor does she play with readers in contrived 'childhood transformations': on the contrary, an adult is clearly visible behind the girl's story. Perhaps this is why the story, originally addressed to readers aged 12-16, eventually ceased to be perceived as 'teenage,' becoming part of great Russian literature.
This edition of 'Sugar Child' is an acknowledgment of this fact. The story of how memoirs are transformed into a story and what lies behind the text is the second part of the book. Supplemented with photographs, a preface, and extensive commentary, this edition places the story of the girl Eli in its historical and literary context. And also in a pedagogical context: the famous teacher Evgeny Yamburg talks about this in the book. Eight years after the first edition was published, the story looks like a true living classic - and still attracts the attention of both readers and researchers.
The book 'Sugar Child' has been translated into nine languages, including French and German. It was longlisted for the Kniguru Prize (2013), was awarded a diploma from the V.P. Krapivin Prize (2014), was included in the list of 'Leningrad Region Children's Favorites' (2014), the shortlist of the Leo Tolstoy Yasnaya Polyana Prize (2015) and the list of outstanding children's books of the world 'White Crows', compiled by the Munich International Children's Library (2015).
In 2021, Olga Gromova's second book, 'Walchen', was published by KompasGid.