The Blackbird Girls
Anne Blankman
After the Chernobyl nuclear-power-plant explosion, neighbors Valentina Kaplan and Oksana Savchenko must leave for Leningrad. They begin as enemies: Oksana has bullied Valentina. Facing difficult circumstances together, the two girls have to develop trust despite their hostility and the racial tensions around them. The novel begins with the girls waking to a red sky on a spring morning, then follows their forced journey after the disaster. Friendship develops amid danger, displacement, and worsening adversity.
This book appears on 2 reading lists across 2 editions from 2 organizations.
