The dying wish of a loving father ignites a family drama that brings two sisters and their acid-tongued, Russian-born mother together in a story that reaches back to WWII Leningrad. 1941: Leningrad, a once magical city besieged by war, cut off from aid, buried in snow. A city full of women desperate to save their children and themselves. 2000: Loss and old age have taken a terrible toll on Anya Whitson. At last, she will reach out to her estranged...

Anya, embarrassed by her Russian immigrant family and self-conscious about her body, has given up on fitting in at school but falling down a well and making friends with the ghost there just may be worse.

"A dazzling debut novel about a Russian immigrant family living in Brooklyn and their struggle to learn the new rules of the American Dream. In this account of two decades in the life of an immigrant household, the fall of communism and the rise of globalization are artfully reflected in the experience of a single family. Ironies, subtle and glaring, are revealed: the Nasmertovs left Odessa for Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, with a huge sense of finality,...

"When Andrei Kaplan's older brother Dima insists that Andrei return to Moscow to care for their ailing grandmother, Andrei must take stock of his life in New York. His girlfriend has stopped returning his text messages. His dissertation adviser is dubious about his job prospects. It's the summer of 2008, and his bank account is running dangerously low. Perhaps a few months in Moscow are just what he needs. So Andrei sublets his room in Brooklyn, packs...

Eleven-year-old Maya refuses to let her growing anxiety and OCD hold her back from using stand-up comedy to bring her parents back together.

Grandparents, aunts and uncles, and children gather at a farm house to celebrate Christmas in the Russian tradition.

When Sunny Sweet, age six, devises a science experiment that requires her big sister Masha to look weird all day, Masha will try almost anything to get them home from the science fair without causing a scene.