This is the remarkable true story of a family during one of the bleakest periods in history, a story that "radiates optimism and the resilience of the human spirit" (Washington Post).

In June 1941, the Rudomin family is arrested by the Russians. They are accused of being capitalists, "enemies of the people." Forced from their home and friends in Vilna, Poland, they are herded into crowded cattle cars. Their destination: the endless steppe of Siberia.

For five years, Esther and her family live in exile, weeding potato fields, working in the mines, and struggling to stay alive. But in the middle of hardship and oppression, the strength of their small family sustains them and gives them hope for the future.

The first winner of the Sydney Taylor Awards was Esther Hautzig's The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia, and 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of this powerful classic.

Author: Esther Hautzig
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 06/12/2018
Pages: 256
Weight: 0.35lbs
Size: 7.50h x 5.10w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9780064405775
Audience: Young Adult

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 6.3
Point Value: 10
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 361 / Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia


Award: 1968 Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner - Children's Literature


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 07/03/1995

About the Author
Hautzig, Esther: -

Esther Hautzig was the author of many books for children and adults. The Endless Steppe is an autobiographical account of her childhood in Siberia. It was a National Book Award nominee and an ALA Notable Children's Book. It also received the Jane Addams Children's Book Award and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award.