Chernobyl Revisited in The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman
In Pripyat, Ukraine, the citizens know an accident could happen at the power plant but they’ve been told that drinking milk and eating cucumbers will cure any radiation sickness that might result.
Fifth grade classmates Valentina Kaplan and Oksana Savchenko are not exactly friends, but now they’re forced into each other’s company by the sudden evacuation prompted by the hideous catastrophe of Chernobyl. Chapters spin the story out in the viewpoints of the girls and of Rifka, Valentina’s grandmother, whose own life contains secrets. The abuse Oksana suffers shows how domestic tragedy so often plays out in silence behind closed doors, in contrast to public, national ones that claim our attention.
Yet the same human nature that works to wreak destruction is also capable of acts of generosity and forgiveness. These are the instincts that tie the plot threads of two timelines together. They are embodied in Rifka’s friendship with the Uzbek girl Feruza Chorieva—the friendship alluded to in the book’s title.
Anne Blankman’s book has a tragically prescient feel to it now, with its threads of disinformation, the power of an autocratic state, people forced to flee their homes. I asked Anne if she’d like to comment on the foregrounding of this history in light of recent events in Ukraine. Here is what she said::
You ask such an important question! The saying, "History repeats itself," has never felt more apt to me than it does now. Frankly, I believe what happens in the present usually has its roots in the past. Russia's recent invasion of Ukraine wasn't a snap decision, but was decades in the making. Ukraine has its own culture and language, but some believe it is merely an extension of Russia. A government's choice to weaponize misinformation, to attack innocent civilians, and to force people to flee in advance of an encroaching army is nothing new, but it is heartbreaking.
On the day the invasion began, I spoke with my dear friend, whose childhood experiences inspired The Blackbird Girls. She wasn't surprised by Putin's decision to attack Ukraine, but she was sad and angry. We suspect Putin invaded because he thought his citizens might see Ukraine--a democratic nation that was once part of the USSR--and get "dangerous" ideas about wanting to do away with their own autocratic government.
Thank you, Anne. Your book seems uncannily relevant as attacks on Ukraine, the horrors of war, and Russian disinformation all form a calamitous part of our present news cycle. A Sydney Taylor Honor Book.
