The Blackbird Girls
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The Blackbird Girls
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Narrated by:
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Kathleen Gati
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Natasha Soudek
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Written by:
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Anne Blankman
About this listen
National Jewish Book Award Winner
A Sydney Taylor Middle Grade Honor Book
Like Ruta Sepetys for middle grade, Anne Blankman pens a poignant and timeless story of friendship that twines together moments in underexplored history.
On a spring morning, neighbors Valentina Kaplan and Oksana Savchenko wake up to an angry red sky. A reactor at the nuclear power plant where their fathers work—Chernobyl—has exploded. Before they know it, the two girls, who've always been enemies, find themselves on a train bound for Leningrad to stay with Valentina's estranged grandmother, Rita Grigorievna. In their new lives in Leningrad, they begin to learn what it means to trust another person. Oksana must face the lies her parents told her all her life. Valentina must keep her grandmother's secret, one that could put all their lives in danger. And both of them discover something they've wished for: a best friend. But how far would you go to save your best friend's life? Would you risk your own?
Told in alternating perspectives among three girls—Valentina and Oksana in 1986 and Rifka in 1941—this story shows that hatred, intolerance, and oppression are no match for the power of true friendship.
©2020 Anne Blankman (P)2020 Listening LibraryWhat the critics say
"A gripping adventure and a beautiful tribute to the power of friendship in the face of troubling times."—Margaret Peterson Haddix, New York Times bestselling author
"A powerful and beautifully written story that explores the losses and growing friendship of two girls whose lives and beliefs are forever changed after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. It's truly an unforgettable work that left me breathless."—Patricia Reilly Giff, Newbery Honor author of Lily's Crossing and Pictures of Hollis Woods
"This unique novel by Anne Blankman brings powerful moments in history into sharp (and tear-inducing) focus...Not to be missed."—Jane Yolen, author of The Devil's Arithmetic, Briar Rose, and Mapping the Bones