Told in three voices: Rifka (1942), and Valentina and Oksana (1986). Valentina and Oksana are school peers and have woken up to an explosion at Chernobyl. Both of their fathers work there and they live in the same building, however Oksana doesn't care for Valentina. Oksana's dad calls Valentina's family dirty Jews. As Oksana discovers her father has died, she and her mother prepare to evacuate the city, but her mother has been contaminated by radiation. Valentina's father is in the hospital, and she and her mother are also evacuating. They offer for Oksana to come with them, and she does. Valentina's mother has to send them on alone to her mother. Valentina has never met her grandmother. As Oksana and Valentina begin to get to know one another, they become close friends.
Interspersed within their story is the story of Rifka, a Jew, who is running away from the Germans and tells of her story of surviving WWII.
I really enjoyed this story not only for the WWII aspect, but the history of Chernobyl. It is rare to have a middle grade novel written about that bit of history. I think this will be a popular book for many.
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