Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
The Blackbird Girls
Anne Blankman · 2021
85/100
👍 Worth It
Anne Blankman pulls off something genuinely hard — weaving Chernobyl and the Holocaust into a single middle-grade story without making either feel exploited. The friendship at the center is earned, and the National Jewish Book Award reflects real editorial and community validation. Heavy themes handled with care; parents may want to read alongside younger kids in the 9–10 range.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety80
substance87
craft84
originality82
accuracy88
hype83
age-fit82
human-eye87
Penny’s verdict85
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