"100 Reasons Why Leo Tolstoy Cries"—a book shortlisted for the inaugural ABCDbooks competition—was conceived, written, and illustrated by Katya Gushchina. She took note of a striking fact: the great Russian writer—a count, a man of striking, courageous, and resolute appearance—was, in truth, quite prone to shedding tears. In Tolstoy’s era, weeping was by no means considered the exclusive domain of women and children; moreover, there was certainly no shortage of reasons for it. Leo Nikolayevich’s heart would ache or stir with emotion at almost anything—from the poetry and prose of his fellow writers to the famine in the surrounding villages, not to mention the various tribulations within his own family. Through the crystalline prism of these tears, Katya Gushchina reveals the multifaceted world in which Tolstoy’s now-canonical works were born.