The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko

The Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko was not what I expected at all. The story is written completely by Ivan and it is clear he had no problem sharing the high and low points of his childhood at Mazyr Hospital for Gravely Ill Children.

Born with no legs, no right arm, a thumb and two fingers on his right hand along with facial muscles that do not work correctly Ivan is used to being shunned. However the other residents do not seem to mind his appearance since most of them are trapped in their minds. All that changes for Ivan when a teenage girl named Polina arrives hoping the hospital will treat her leukemia. A strange and fascinating friendships starts to develop between the two teens as they explore what it means to live and ultimately die. 

The whole story pulled at my heart strings. I felt the pain that was clearly throughout the halls of the hospital and the pain everyone went through including the nurses. The translation from Russian to English did not bother me at all, it was wonderfully translated and the occasional Russian word or phrase thrown in did not deter from the story at all.