A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka

In the twilight of the Cold War, nine-year-old Lev Golinkin and his family cross the Soviet border with only ten suitcases, six hundred dollars, and the vague promise of help waiting in Vienna. Years later, Leve, now an American adult, sets out to retrace his family's long trek and locate and say thank you to the strangers who fought for his freedom.

A thrilling tale of escape and survival, Golinkin's memoir is also a deeply personal look at the life of a Jewish child caught in the last gasp of the Soviet Union, and a provocative contemporary investigation into the power of hatred and the search for belonging.