Two Worlds for Jash

Dave Jenkinson is Associate Dean of the Faculty of Education at the
University of Manitoba.

Redekopp’s work joins Barbara Smucker’s Days of Terror in providing
a child’s-eye view of the German Mennonite exodus from Ukraine
following the Russian Revolution. From the vantage point of his new
world—Gnadenthal, Manitoba—Jash recalls being 10 and living in his
original world—Rosental Valley, Ukraine—with his parents and five
siblings. Jash’s recollections describe how his carefree childhood is
destroyed as invading Red Army troops’ actions bring famine, disease,
and death to the community. About two-thirds of the book describes the
series of harsh events that led to the family’s emigration to Canada;
the final third deals with the family’s journey and settling into the
new land.

Redekopp never lets her story become just a dry recitation of
historical happenings. She recognizes that, even in the worst of times,
children will find ways to play—as Jash does when he manages to
scavenge one skate or to reconstruct a bicycle. Nor does she spare her
readers the cruel, inhumane realities of the period; Jash’s brother
Abram, barely two, dies from typhoid, and the area’s dogs and cats
disappear, having been eaten by starving people.

A most acceptable read, Two Worlds for Jash could, however, have been
better. For the work’s length, the plot is overly ambitious, with the
result that some events deserving greater development are passed over
too quickly. The book’s final third, in particular, merits fuller
treatment. As well, the book needs a much clearer chronology: the
plot’s exact timespan remains obscure. Though Redekopp cites actual
events, such as the German-Russian Armistice during World War I, she
does not provide dates, and most middle-school students will not bring
such knowledge to their reading.