Like Ruta Sepetys for middle grade, Anne Blankman pens a poignant and timeless story of friendship that twines together moments in underexplored history.
But how far would you go to save your best friend's life? Would you risk your own? Told in alternating perspectives among three girls--Valentina and Oksana in 1986 and Rifka in 1941--this story shows that hatred, intolerance, and oppression are no match for the power of true friendship..
And both of them discover something they've wished for: a best friend.
Valentina must keep her grandmother's secret, one that could put all their lives in danger.
Oksana must face the lies her parents told her all her life.
In their new lives in Leningrad, they begin to learn what it means to trust another person.
Before they know it, the two girls, who've always been enemies, find themselves on a train bound for Leningrad to stay with Valentina's estranged grandmother, Rita Grigorievna.
A reactor at the nuclear power plant where their fathers work--Chernobyl--has exploded.
On a spring morning, neighbors Valentina Kaplan and Oksana Savchenko wake up to an angry red sky.
Like Ruta Sepetys for middle grade, Anne Blankman pens a poignant and timeless story of friendship that twines together moments in underexplored history
