A fascinating view of Russia before the collapse of the USSR, March 20, 2002
Reviewer: Laura Brown from Atlanta, GA USA
written for Amazon

This book offers a fascinating glimpse of life in Russia before the collapse of the Soviet Union

If you grew up in America during the cold war sixties and seventies, Soviet Russia was a sort of dark enigma. Shadowy tales of the KGB, defections of high-profile athletes and underground resistance painted the picture of life in Russia before glasnost. While we in an open society certainly heard more about Russian life than they heard about life in the U.S. - we didn't exactly engage in cultural exchange. They were our enemies and the news was mostly grim.

B4ME, by Lena Matis, fills in some of the blanks in our knowledge of those cold war years in communist Russia. Through the device of having the main character travel back in time to the Russia his mother had fled in the seventies, this book gives us a unique perspective on the years before the collapse of the Soviet Union. The story's protagonist stumbles into the life of his mother as she was in the past - a young woman living in Russia with husband and baby daughter as "refuseniks" - those who had requested permission to leave, and been refused by the government. He takes up with these previous versions of his current-day family members, and gets a revealing glimpse of what it meant to be Jewish in Soviet Russia.

From the harsh realities of a totalitarian state controlled by the KGB, to the more pleasant memories of mushroom-picking in the fall, collecting strawberries in the spring, and trips to the museum, the author gives us an important memoir of a time too-often whitewashed in the political climate of recent years. Written for children, it tells an adult story in an engaging way, describing what it was like to grow up Jewish in a country where the practice of religion itself was outlawed.

Beautifully illustrated in the author's own hand, the book is filled with line drawings of scenes from life (the English Speaking Club), travel (Aeroporto di Leonardo daVinci, Roma Italia) and St. Petersburg (The Hermitage, The Bronze Poet, and other landmarks). At times, more like an album with annotation than a traditional narrative, the book's structure allows the reader to read entire sections without interruption, then browse the related illustrations of a piece.

Caught between the beauty of the book's art, and the harshness of some of its subject matter, the reader experiences the bittersweet quality that must have been the life of the author in Soviet Russia. This book tells a story that is important for all of us to hear, whether Jewish American or not. It takes on new importance in the days after September 11th as a reminder of the value of freedom and the perils of totalitarianism.

With its international flair and changing scenery from multiple countries, this book would make a great movie!

From Oppression to Freedom - a Personal Account
Reviewer: Roliker from NJ USA
written for Barnes and Noble

Fit for audiences of all ages, B4Me is a moving account of the struggles and challenges imposed by the anti-Semitism in the early 1970's in the former Soviet Union. Written in an ingenious manner, Lena Matis begins with a science-fictional scenario of a young American schoolboy who travels through time, finding himself in Russia and learning of the multi-layered story of his parents' emigration from the former Soviet Union. Lending a new definition to freedom, this book describes being followed by the KGB, the dreaded separation of husband, wife and child, secret meetings with friends to practice the then-forbidden English language and the reading of banned American books. Vivid details of the wealth of Russian culture-- telling of children's stories, attending puppet shows, visiting the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad--enrich the reality of the bland everyday life. Matis then describes the stumbling blocks, decorated with the occassional humorous times experienced by newly-arrived immigrations to the United States.

B4Me is a moving personal account of the hurdles and hardships--being trapped and separated, experiencing the discrimination imposed by anti-Semitism. Matis describes the fear of living freely as Jews and the challenges of observing Jewish traditions. Adding a unique and original flavor, Matis provides her own original illustrations depicting the most vibrant situations in the book.

In describing the trials of emigration and the eventual freedom gain in the U.S., this book tells both a historical and personal narrative that would interest many people who, to this day, undergo these tribulations all over the world.