The Blackbird Girls

The Blackbird Girls is set on the morning of April 26, 1986, when the Chernobyl nuclear reactor explodes, forcing two girls who have always been enemies — Valentina Kaplan, who is Jewish, and Oksana Savchenko, whose father is a virulent antisemite — onto a train together to Leningrad to stay with Valentina's estranged grandmother. Woven together with flashbacks to a Jewish woman named Rifka during World War II, Anne Blankman's powerful novel explores how friendship, courage, and the secrets of the past can transform the most unlikely people.

This book is an extraordinary choice for students because it illuminates two underexplored chapters of history — the Holocaust and Chernobyl — while exploring the universal themes of prejudice, resilience, and the slow, difficult work of learning to trust across difference.

Publishing Details

Author : Anne Blankman

Author Nationality : United States

Physical Details

Type of Book: Chapter

Cover: Softcover

Pages: 352

Size: 7.9 x 5.1 inches

Year Published: 2021

Instructional Details

Reading Grade Level: 4th

Genre: Fiction

Sub-Genre: Historical Fiction

Theme: War, Social Issues, Friendship, Identity