There's so much fiction about the Holocaust, yet very little about Stalin's genocide in the Baltic region. This book is important for that reason alone. It seems well-researched and very realistic. Fortunately, the chapters are short, usually 3-5 pages, which makes the bleakness more bearable. Interestingly, though, I didn't have a strong emotional reaction to her story, even though I'll often cry when reading. Not sure if that's a fault, exactly (otherwise I might have cried through the entire thing.) I learned quite a bit, and would suggest this to middle-schoolers or high-schoolers - it'd be a great option for an historical fiction assignment.