The Blackbird Girls

I never would have guessed there would be a middle grade book with a Chernobyl backdrop. I've read a couple of nonfiction books about the disaster but none through the lens of fiction. Having it told through the eyes of two children gave a unique insight.    Pripyat girls Oksana and Valentina notice a change in the atmosphere on the morning of April 26th, 1986 and are particularly curious about the blue flames coming from the Chernobyl plant. They wonder if this fire is the reason why neither of their fathers have come home from their overnight shifts. Aside from their concern, their days go along as normal; Oksana bullying Valentina which leads to their school day beginning with a punishment.    Thoughts of their feud give way to more concerned whispers around town. Valentina's mother isn't fooled by the reassurances from the government and is the least surprised when the Pripyat citizens are eventually boarded onto buses and taken to Kiev. To Oskana's horror, she finds herself separated from her mother due to her elevated radiation levels and has no choice but to leave with Valentina and her mother. Valentina is none too happy about this, either, and is confused why her mother would take in the girl who has treated her so poorly.    From Kiev, the girls are sent to Leningrad to stay with Valentina's grandmother. Valentina is nervous as she's always been told she hasn't met her grandmother because she does ‘dangerous things'. Oskana is nervous about being taken in by an old Jewish woman. Both of the girls' worries are soon eased, albeit, not without Oskana being forced to face the reality of the abusive environment she's grown up in and the prejudices she's been told to keep.    The book also has a sporadic third point of view through Rifka, showing her life during World War II. Her trials echo some of what Valentina and Oskana are going through. Their stories and Rift's are woven nicely, both empathizing themes of survival and unlikely friendship.    As much as I enjoyed the book, I will say it's a tad misleading to say that Chernobyl is the main focus. While it's the driving force of the story, most of the mentions of the disaster end by the halfway point aside from the odd mention here and there. It is more of a story about life in the Soviet Union and the effects of antisemitism, among other difficult subjects.    My favorite part of the book is the characters' growth, particularly Oskana's. There is a good balance of her favorable and less than favorable qualities. I also enjoyed Valentina's openness to embracing the traditions her grandmother celebrates despite the risk of doing so.    While I did enjoy Rifka's story and it did serve a purpose to the predominant plot, I also think the book could have done without it or at least could have given an abbreviated version. A lot of the book was spent on her when there was enough happening with Oskana and Valentina. In any case, I enjoyed the story immensely and I appreciated the frank exploration of heavier topics for this age group. I know I have another book by this author on my shelf and I am even more excited to read that one!