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A Visit to Moscow book cover

A Visit to Moscow

by Anna Olswanger

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SKU 9781513128733
2023 Eisner Award Nominee for "Best Adaptation from Another Medium"
2022 Brightness Illustration Award Longlist

Powerful and moving, A Visit to Moscow is inspired by the true experience of an American rabbi who travels to the Soviet Union in the 1960s, a dangerous time of uncertainty and fear for Jews there.

"This beautiful, haunting story evokes the tragedy and triumph of Soviet Jewry in a way that few books have managed to do. Anna Olswanger helps readers understand the world from which contemporary Jewry emerged.”—Yossi Klein Halevi, New York Times bestselling author 

"An American rabbi's visit to the Soviet Union gets adapted by Olswanger with evocative art by Nayberg into a compact but potent graphic narrative. This faith-affirming fablelike tale will make a ready gift book from older Jewish relatives to younger generations."—Publishers Weekly

"As Putin's Russia closes in again on the freedom of expression by its citizens, especially in the wake of its Ukrainian invasion, A Visit to Moscow becomes even more relevant."—Glenn Richter, founder of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry

This briefly told story is compelling and will provoke curiosity about a topic that isn’t often told or taught. The artwork is beautifully rendered with lush colors and a fine mix of abstract and concrete to match the tone of the storytelling. This is a worthy read and hopefully will jump-start the discussion of Soviet Jews who lived behind what was known as the “iron curtain.”—School Library Journal "Good Comics for Kids"

"The text is poetic prose, which meshes well with the panels telling the story. The extraordinary artwork uses varying color palettes to differentiate between Russia and the rest of the world, to great effect."—Youth Services Book Reviews

“With stark­ly dra­mat­ic text and haunt­ing images, author and illus­tra­tor con­vey the dev­as­tat­ing oppres­sion of Sovi­et Jew­ish life, and the com­mit­ment of one Jew to bring their hor­ri­fy­ing real­i­ty into the light.”—Jewish Book Council

In 1965, an American rabbi travels to the Soviet Union to investigate reports of persecution of the Jewish community. Moscow welcomes him as a guest—but provides a strict schedule he and the rest of his group must follow.

One afternoon, the rabbi slips away. With an address in hand and almost no knowledge of the Russian language, he embarks on a secret journey that will change his life forever.

Inspired by the true experience of Rabbi Rafael Grossman, A Visit to Moscow captures the formidable perseverance and strength of the Jewish people during the "Let My People Go" movement, a modern exodus that is often overlooked.

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Book details

Adapted by
Anna Olswanger, Rabbi Rafael Grossman
Illustrator
Yevgenia Nayberg, Yevgenia Nayberg
Imprint
West Margin Press, an imprint of Turner Publishing Company
Published
Pages
72
Formats
Hardcover, Paperback
Ages
12-14
Subjects
Juvenile Fiction › Comics & Graphic Novels › Historical
Juvenile Fiction › Religious › Jewish
Juvenile Fiction › Comics & Graphic Novels
Topics
Soviet Jews · graphic novel · historical fiction · antisemitism · Cold War era · Jewish identity · human rights
ISBN-13
9781513128733 (Hardcover)9781513141954 (Paperback)

About the author

ANNA OLSWANGER is a literary agent representing award-winning authors and illustrators, and the author of Greenhorn and Shlemiel Crooks.

Shlemiel Crooks is a Sydney Taylor Honor Book and PJ Library Book. Olswanger wrote it after discovering a 1919 Yiddish newspaper article about the attempted robbery of her great-grandparents' kosher liquor store in St. Louis. Greenhorn is based on an incident in Rabbi Rafael Grossman’s childhood, set against the backdrop of the Holocaust.

When she’s not writing, Olswanger works as a literary agent and has been interviewing Rabbi Rafael Grossman and recording his stories since the early 1980s. Much of her work draws directly on recovered histories and firsthand accounts.

Anna lives in New Jersey with her husband.

Format: Hardcover