Ivan and the Informer

If we don't teach our kids about the evils of communism, how will they know? The Ivan series by Myrna Grant is just the ticket. It tells the story of Ivan, a young Christian boy growing up in the Soviet Union. His family is persecuted for being Christian. This isn't prison camp Gulag Archipelago stuff, but Ivan is interrogated for hours by the secret police because he attended an in-home gathering with other Christians. His father loses a factory job for sharing the gospel. There is an informer among the small community of Christians, and we get to see the terror and paranoia that brings.

It's also made clear that being a Christian comes with many other indignities and drawbacks: most opportunities are closed to Ivan because, as a Christian, he is viewed as insufficiently patriotic. He will not be allowed to attend university. He is denied the chance to participate in a school writing competition. If he fails to join the communist youth organization when he is old enough, he will be kicked off the hockey team. These and other little acts of discrimination against Christians are things every American needs to know about communism. We need to know about the gulags and the purges too, but it starts with the little things.

Teach your kids about communism. Start with the Ivan books.