The Blackbird Girls Flashcards
Level 1
Name of the power plant that has a meltdown
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Chernobyl
Level 1
What kind of power plant melted down?
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Nuclear
power plant
Level 1
the war that was happening in Rifka’s time
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World War Two
Level 1
the religion of Jewish people
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Judaism
Level 1
the weekly holiday in Judaism where they light candles and say prayers
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shabbat
Level 1
What was making everyone sick when the power plant melted down?
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radiation or radiation poisoning
Level 1
The fake cure for radiation poisoning that everyone knew
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Cucumbers and milk
Level 1
The color of the sky and smoke when the power plant melted down
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Red sky. Blue smoke.
Level 2
Valentina’s last name
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Valentina
Kaplan
Level 2
Valentina’s mom’s name
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Galina Yurievna
level 2
Rifka’s last name
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Rifka
Friedman
level 2
Oksana’s last name
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Oksana
Savchenko
level 2
Where did Rifka live with her mom?
(the city)
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Kiev
level 2
In what city do Valentina and Oksana live at the beginning of the book?
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Pripyat
level 2
both Kiev and Pripyat were in what nation
(at the time of the book)?
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The Soviet Union
level 2
Both Kiev and Pripyat were in what region that is now it’s own nation?
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Ukraine
Level 2
What was the acronym by which the Soviet Union was known? (like U.S. or U.S.A. is for the United States)
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U.S.S.R.
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Level 2
What musical instrument did Rifka play?
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flute
Level 2
When did the Chernobyl meltdown happen?
(the year)
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1986
level 2
In what year did the Nazis invade the Soviet Union?
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1941
level 3
Oksana and Valentina’s teacher in Pripyat
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Svetlana Dmitrievna
level 3
Svetlana’s cat who had to stay in Pripyat while all the people were evacuated.
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Zhulka
level 3
In what city did Valentina and Oksana live with Valentina’s grandma?
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Leningrad
level 3
What was Valentina’s grandma’s name?
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Rifka Friedman
Level 3
In what country did Rifka live with her blackbird girl?
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Uzbekistan
Level 3
What did Oksana and Valentina call Valentina’s grandma?
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Babulya
Level 3
What city did Oksana move to with her mom and her mom’s awful new boyfriend?
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Minsk
Level 3
What was the first name of Rifka’s blackbird girl?
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Feruza
Level 3
What was the name of Valentina’s neighbor in Pripyat who sunbathed on the roof and got sick from radiation poisoning?
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Dyadya Sergei
Level 3
Where did Valentina’s family live before coming to Pripyat?
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Siberia
Level 4
What does Babulya tell Oksana she could call her, when they first met.
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Tetya Rita
(Auntie Rita)
Level 4
What name was Babulya using in Leningrad?
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hint: not Rifka Friedman
Rita Grigorievna
Level 4
Where did Babulya take the girls after they first met? It’s the most famous street in Leningrad.
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Nevsky Prospekt
Level 4
Babulya has a kommunalka. What is a kommunalka?
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a community apartment
(it means they share the kitchen & bathroom)
Level 4
Why was Oksana surprised that Babulya seemed to be poor?
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Because her father told her all Jewish people were rich.
“A kommunalka. Only the lowliest people lived there, didn’t they? So that must mean that Valentina’s grandmother was poor. But Papa had always said Jews were secretly rich and hid their wealth. . . This place certainly didn’t seem like the sort of place a secretly rich Jew would live. It looked like a poor person’s home. . . Had Papa been mistaken about Jews. Or had he lied to her. He had told her again and again that Jews were thieves. He had said Valentina’s father had stolen his promotion at work by spreading rumors that he was a bad worker. He had said Jews cheated to take others’ jobs or earn the best marks on a test. he had made her promise to be on her guard against them.”
level 4
What is Valentina’s favorite food? Babulya showed her and Oksana how to make it their first night in Leningrad.
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Pelmenyi
(dumplings with butter and onions)
Level 4
What is the name of the black market supplier that Oksana worked for?
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Comrade Orlov
Level 4
What was in the package that Oksana delivered for Comrade Orlov when Valentina was with her and the guy who was supposed to get the package was arrested.
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an American passport
level 4
What is the name of the secret police that everyone is afraid of?
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the KGB
Level 4
What did Oksana want to buy with the money she was making from black market deliveries?
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a train ticket to Minsk to be with her mom
Level 5
What is the name of Rifka’s cousin who she ran away with from Kiev?
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Nathan
Level 5
What is the first name of Oksana and Valentina’s school friend who gives Oksana a chocolate bar for her birthday?
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Lyudmila
Level 5
What is the first name of Oksana and Valentina’s school friend who gives Oksana blue beads for her birthday.
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Yulia
Level 5
At one point Oksana sees “the strangest-looking object she had ever seen. It was a teacup covered all over with little metal screws.” What was it?
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A pencil holder
for Oksana’s paint brushes
the birthday gift from Valentina
Level 5
What does Valentina’s mom call Valentina?
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Valyushka
Level 5
What does Oksana’s mom call Oksana (when she’s being nice)?
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Khusha
Level 5
What was the name of the power station that melted down?
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the V.I. Lenin power station
Lenin was a leader of Russia
Level 5
What is the first name of Valentina’s bestie at the beginning of the book?
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Larisa
