“Valentina wondered where the birds had gone.”

One morning in April 1986, classmates Valentina and Oksana wake up in their Ukrainian city to find an eerie red sky in the south, and a huge plume of unearthly blue smoke rising over the nuclear power plant where both their fathers are working—Chernobyl. 

In the Soviet Union, any disobedience or questioning of the government means you could be arrested and taken away. Because Valentina’s family is Jewish, it means they are already suspect in the government’s eyes, so they can’t ask questions, despite their worries. 

Oksana hates Valentina for being Jewish. Her father says Jews cannot be trusted, and Valentina will do anything to earn his approval.

Because of the dangerous radiation levels, the girls must evacuate, and Oksana finds herself traveling with Valentina and her mother. With thousands of refugees, they cannot find shelter, so the girls are sent to stay with Valentina’s estranged grandmother, Rita.

The chapters alternate between Valentina and Oksana as they adapt to this new life, with memories from Rita’s past as a Jewish girl in Soviet Russia during World War II, weaving a compelling tale of history, tragedy, and the true power of friendship and family. (New Hampshire Great Stone Face Book Award nominee, 2022)