Children of the Storm: The Autobiography of Natasha Vins

Rating:
Summary: Not a children's book alone
Review: This is an autobiography of a mid-twentieth century Russian girl, Natasha, and her family from Kiev. It is an adult book that children with 5th grade reading level can also enjoy. Children of the Storm recounts her father's imprisonment, her schooling and questioning of Christianity, and all that happened to them in the years of Soviet crackdown of Biblical Christians. Fast-moving, very interesting, well-written. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: A must-read
Review: This is one of the best-written and most gripping Christian autobiographies I've read in years. I started it in the afternoon, managed to put supper on the table for my family and get the kids in bed, and finished the whole thing. My father is a Baptist pastor and we regularly prayed for our fellow believers in the persecuted church, so it was especially moving for me to get a clear picture of what life was like for the Vins family as they tried to minister in the Soviet Union during the years of Communist oppression. I would recommend this book for junior high students on up. It would be an excellent book for families to read aloud and discuss together, or for Sunday School teachers to share a chapter or so with their classes during a reading time each week (they'd keep coming back for sure). The book really makes you evaluate the depth or your own Christian commitment in the light of what Natasha and her family endured.