[DEBUT] Seventeen-year-old Ivan Isaenko has spent his life inside the dismal walls of the Mazyr Hospital for Gravely Ill Children in Belarus. An orphan (he's been told), brought to the hospital as a small child, Ivan was born legless and with only one hand as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Though physically disabled, he proves to be highly intelligent and spends his time reading the literature and philosophy slipped to him by his sympathetic nurse Natalya and caustically commenting (primarily to himself) on the patients and staff. His humdrum existence changes dramatically when Polina, a teenage cancer patient, comes to reside at the hospital. As vivacious and transgressive as it's possible for a terminally ill teen to be, she gradually pulls Ivan out of his self-protective cocoon, until a friendship, and, ultimately, an unusual and sadly short-lived romance develops. Verdict Stambach successfully conjures the tone of a Russian novel, to the point where a reader may check the cover to confirm the author's name. In Ivan, he has created an appealingly uncommon literary misfit and outsider, a character somewhere between Holden Caulfield and Ignatius J. Reilly. A notable debut. [See Prepub Alert, 2/8/16.]-Lawrence Rungren, Andover, MA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The story of 17-year-old Ivan Isaenko's tragic existence is revealed through an abandoned notebook. He was born with severe disabilities as a result of the Chernobyl disaster and uses a wheelchair. Abandoned by his parents at birth, Ivan has lived his entire life at the dismal Mazyr Hospital for Gravely Ill Children in Belarus, where meals consist of watered-down cabbage soup. Human contact is limited to the nursing staff and other "mutant" patients in the hospital. Despite his limited physical abilities and small world, Ivan is extremely bright and imaginative. He spends his days observing those around him, reading, and spying on the hospital staff. The protagonist's inner voice and crafty dealings with the hospital personnel bring levity to the narrative-particularly when he pretends to slip into a comalike sleep so that he can better eavesdrop. Ivan longs for a connection to a mother he never knew. He falls in love with a clever leukemia patient named Polina, a bittersweet experience, and his inevitable heartache will resonate with readers. Many teens will appreciate the humor and the realistic interactions between Ivan and Polina. Unlike many of the characters in YA novels, who appear confident and wise beyond their years, these adolescents are awkward and self-conscious until they develop a comfortable rapport. VERDICT Highly recommended. Though the setting may be unfamiliar to readers, teens will be charmed by this most unusual protagonist who remains hopeful despite his bleak situation.-Sherry J. Mills, Hazelwood East High School, St. Louis © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

At 17, Ivan Isaenko has spent his entire life as a patient at the Mazyr Hospital for Gravely Ill Children in Belarus. Born severely challenged legless and with only one arm and a hand with three fingers he is a fixture at the hospital and an acute observer of all that transpires there. Intensely self-aware and highly intelligent, Ivan records his daily life in a journal, his voice sardonic as he introduces his readers to the hospital's population, the children, the nurses, and the hospital administrator. The dreary sameness of his days changes dramatically when a 16-year-old girl named Polina, who suffers from leukemia, is admitted, and the two begin to fall in love. But hope, like prayer, almost never works, Ivan thinks bleakly. A story overshadowed by the inevitability of death is necessarily a sad one but not always uninteresting, as Stambach's appealing characters come alive on the page. At first uneasy, their relationship gradually deepens and becomes a memorable celebration of humanity in the face of desperate odds.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2016 Booklist

Stambach's impressive, well-structured debut is set at the Mazyr Hospital for Gravely Ill Children in Belarus. Seventeen-year-old Ivan Isaenko has lived there all his life. Due to the Chernobyl disaster just before his birth, Ivan has no legs, one arm, a hand with a thumb and two fingers, and a droopy face that makes it difficult to speak or smile. Unlike many of his fellow patients, Ivan is self-aware and stubborn, as he describes in one of his amusing short lists: "There are two things I've learned... (A) I can eventually... learn to do just about anything with only one arm... and (B) if there is a God, then I should thank Him for my thumb, since it is the only thing that makes (A) possible." Ivan's clever, bleak observations about life at the hospital-an underfunded post-Soviet hell mitigated only by the inexhaustible kindness of the maternal nurse Natalya Beneshenko-make up the book's first half. In the second, he narrates his love affair with Polina Pushkin, a recently orphaned 16-year-old dying of leukemia. Through their romance built on mischief, Russian literature, and a need for recognition, Ivan begins to grapple with his fears and take responsibility for his future. Stambach's surprising, empathetic novel takes on heavy themes of illness, suffering, religion, patience, and purpose, with a balanced mix of humor and heart. Agent: Victoria Sanders, Victoria Sanders & Associates. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.