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A review by utahmomreads
The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman
5.0
THE BLACKBIRD GIRLS by Anna Blankman was on the list of books for the 7th grade Maine Reading Award so I got it for my 12yo for Christmas. After reading & enjoying ALL THIRTEEN as a family, we decided to read this one aloud too.
When we started, we didn’t know how timely it would be. The novel is set in Ukraine and begins in the town of Pripyat where the Chernobyl workers lived with their families. The accident at Chernobyl in 1986 would change the lives of 11yo Oksana and Valentina.
The novel moves about the different provinces of the Soviet Union and also tells the story of Rifka, a Jewish girl, who had to flee Kyiv as the Germans advanced on the city during WWII.
Besides being an absolutely beautiful and emotional novel, THE BLACKBIRD GIRLS has also helped us understand some of the history of the Ukraine/Russian area. I highly recommend it and my entire family was once again entranced each evening.
(Coincidentally, I was also 11 years old in 1986 so my daughters were able to understand that this history wasn’t really so long ago.)
When we started, we didn’t know how timely it would be. The novel is set in Ukraine and begins in the town of Pripyat where the Chernobyl workers lived with their families. The accident at Chernobyl in 1986 would change the lives of 11yo Oksana and Valentina.
The novel moves about the different provinces of the Soviet Union and also tells the story of Rifka, a Jewish girl, who had to flee Kyiv as the Germans advanced on the city during WWII.
Besides being an absolutely beautiful and emotional novel, THE BLACKBIRD GIRLS has also helped us understand some of the history of the Ukraine/Russian area. I highly recommend it and my entire family was once again entranced each evening.
(Coincidentally, I was also 11 years old in 1986 so my daughters were able to understand that this history wasn’t really so long ago.)