The Blackbird Girls

The Blackbird Girls
Author: Anne Blankman
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2021-01-19
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1984837370

NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD WINNER A SYDNEY TAYLOR MIDDLE GRADE HONOR BOOK Like Ruta Sepetys for middle grade, Anne Blankman pens a poignant and timeless story of friendship that twines together moments in underexplored history. On a spring morning, neighbors Valentina Kaplan and Oksana Savchenko wake up to an angry red sky. A reactor at the nuclear power plant where their fathers work--Chernobyl--has exploded. 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. In their new lives in Leningrad, they begin to learn what it means to trust another person. Oksana must face the lies her parents told her all her life. Valentina must keep her grandmother's secret, one that could put all their lives in danger. And both of them discover something they've wished for: a best friend. 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.


Blackbird Fly

Blackbird Fly
Author: Erin Entrada Kelly
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 137
Release: 2015-03-24
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0062238639

Future rock star or friendless misfit? That’s no choice at all. In this acclaimed novel by Newbery Medalist Erin Entrada Kelly, twelve-year-old Apple grapples with being different; with friends and backstabbers; and with following her dreams. Publishers Weekly called Blackbird Fly “a true triumph,” and the Los Angeles Times Book Review said, “Apple soars like the eponymous blackbird of her favorite Beatles song.” Apple has always felt a little different from her classmates. She and her mother moved to Louisiana from the Philippines when she was little, and her mother still cooks Filipino foods and chastises Apple for becoming “too American.” When Apple’s friends turn on her and everything about her life starts to seem weird and embarrassing, Apple turns to music. If she can just save enough to buy a guitar and learn to play, maybe she can change herself. It might be the music that saves her . . . or it might be her two new friends, who show her how special she really is. Erin Entrada Kelly deftly brings Apple’s conflicted emotions to the page in her debut novel about family, friendship, popularity, and going your own way. “A must-read for those kids cringing at their own identities.”—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.


Little Black Book of Murder

Little Black Book of Murder
Author: Nancy Martin
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 413
Release: 2013-08-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101614056

Society columnist Nora Blackbird is thrust into the world of celebrity tabloid gossip when a billionaire buys the farm…. Nora’s assigned to write a profile on billionaire fashion designer Swain Starr, who recently retired to build a high-tech organic farm with his new wife, Zephyr, a former supermodel. But before Nora can get the story, the mogul is murdered. And now her boss wants her to snap up an exclusive on who killed Starr before the cops do. But solving this murder won’t be easy with a family as colorful as Nora’s. Mick, her sort-of husband, is associating with unsavory characters from his past. Her sister Libby is transforming into a stage mom for her diabolical twins. And Emma, the youngest Blackbird, is mysteriously kicked out of the house by Mick. Nora’s home life may be hogging the spotlight, but there’s also a matter of Starr’s missing pig, which just might be the key to solving this mystery and the way Nora can bring home the bacon….


Prisoner of Night and Fog

Prisoner of Night and Fog
Author: Anne Blankman
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2014-04-22
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0062278835

A gripping historical thriller set in 1930s Munich, Prisoner of Night and Fog is the evocative story of an ordinary girl faced with an extraordinary choice in Hitler's Germany. Fans of Code Name Verity will love this novel full of romance, danger, and intrigue! Gretchen Müller grew up in the National Socialist Party under the wing of her uncle Dolf—who has kept her family cherished and protected from that side of society ever since her father sacrificed his life for Dolf's years ago. Dolf is none other than Adolf Hitler. And Gretchen follows his every command. When she meets a fearless and handsome young Jewish reporter named Daniel Cohen, who claims that her father was actually murdered by an unknown comrade, Gretchen doesn't know what to believe. She soon discovers that beyond her sheltered view lies a world full of shadowy secrets and disturbing violence. As Gretchen's investigations lead her to question the motives and loyalties of her dearest friends and her closest family, she must determine her own allegiances—even if her choices could get her and Daniel killed.


Running on the Roof of the World

Running on the Roof of the World
Author: Jess Butterworth
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2018-05-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1616208198

A story of adventure, survival, courage, and hope, set in the vivid Himalayan landscape of Tibet and India that introduces young readers to a fascinating part of the world and the threat to its people's religious freedom.


No Way to Kill a Lady

No Way to Kill a Lady
Author: Nancy Martin
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2013-08-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 045141862X

Not much is going right these days for once rich, now impoverished Nora Blackbird—what with her lover under house arrest and her best friend in the slammer. Then Nora and her sisters receive word of a million-dollar inheritance.... Great-aunt Madeleine Blackbird has died in a volcanic eruption on an Indonesian island and left her fabulous Bucks County estate to the three Blackbird sisters. But when Nora and her scandal-ridden sisters, Libby and Emma, go to claim their windfall, they find the house in decay and all of their aunt’s to-die-for treasures gone. They also find a woman’s body.... Nora feels compelled to seek out the truth, but even with help from her mobster boyfriend, Mick Abruzzo, who provides distractions both dark and delightful, solving this case proves challenging. Relatives are circling to claim a share of Madeleine’s property, the suspect list is growing, and Nora’s wild and wacky sisters are adding one surprise after another. It’s enough to put Nora’s couture undies in a serious twist!


The Land of Forgotten Girls

The Land of Forgotten Girls
Author: Erin Entrada Kelly
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2016-03-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0062238663

In this acclaimed novel from Newbery Medalist Erin Entrada Kelly, two sisters from the Philippines, abandoned by their father and living in impoverished circumstances in Louisiana, fight to make their lives better. School Library Journal called The Land of Forgotten Girls “A charming and affecting novel about sisterhood, the magic of imagination, and perseverance.” For readers of Pam Muñoz Ryan, Rita Williams-Garcia, and anyone searching for the true meaning of family. Winner of a Parents’ Choice Gold Award. Soledad has always been able to escape into the stories she creates. Just like her mother always could. And Soledad has needed that escape more than ever in the five years since her mother and sister died, and her father moved Sol and her youngest sister from the Philippines to Louisiana. After her father leaves, all Sol and Ming have is their evil stepmother, Vea. Sol has protected Ming all this time, but then Ming begins to believe that Auntie Jove—their mythical, world-traveling aunt—is really going to come rescue them. Can Sol protect Ming from this impossible hope? Acclaimed and award-winning author Erin Entrada Kelly writes masterfully about the challenges of finding hope in impossible circumstances, in this novel that will appeal to fans of Cynthia Kadohata and Thanhha Lai. Booklist said, “Kelly’s sophomore novel is both hopeful and heartfelt, but strong emotions are only part of the successful equation here. Told in Sol’s true voice, the direct dialogue brings the diverse characters to vivid life.”


A Crazy Little Thing Called Death

A Crazy Little Thing Called Death
Author: Nancy Martin
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2007-03-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101210931

Nora Blackbird has made the society pages yet again. The impoverished Philadelphia heiress has agreed to wed Mick Abruzzo, son of New Jersey’s most notorious mobster. Now Nora has to help him survive the Blackbird curse: Every time a Blackbird sister marries, the groom is bound to die. But Nora’s superstitions are eclipsed by some ominous news. Penny Devine, ex-Hollywood starlet and daughter of the Philadelphia Devines, has disappeared, and strangely, her family is very eager to have her declared dead. When it’s revealed that Nora has inherited Penny’s extensive couture wardrobe, eyebrows rise even higher. The only way for Nora to keep her name clear and save her sanity is to snoop among the snooty…until she sniffs out the truth.


I Prefer Girls

I Prefer Girls
Author: Jessie Dumont
Publisher: Blackbird Books
Total Pages: 143
Release: 2013-05-31
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1610530179

I Prefer Girls makes its triumphant return! One of the true classics of the golden age of lesbian pulp fiction is back, complete with its captivating Robert Maguire cover and a window in on Greenwich Village, circa 1963. Long out of print, I Prefer Girls has been a favorite of collectors for years and is now available in this new edition from Blackbird Books.