Valkyrie White has to continue the mission. She needs everyone to know Those People aren’t to be trusted. Those People killed her mother and then they killed her father. Those People have to pay and Valkyrie’s the only person with the drive to be sure they do.

          Blythe Woolston’s Black Helicopters follows Valkyrie from her childhood through her final moments as she learns the treachery of the government and the sacrifices that must be made for freedom. Her Da teaches Valkyrie and her brother, Bo, the system to send a message out into the world. Unfortunately, this means Valkyrie will never be able to go out into the world again. She can never be seen by anyone else.

          When their Da is killed in a fire, Valkyrie must risk being noticed in order to get to a safe location. Living with Captain Nichols is anything but safe though. Bo’s sent out to haul mysterious goods and Valkyrie’s left to pay the rent. One day, Valkyrie goes with Bo on one of his jobs. When Bo learns about Captain Nichols’ treatment of her, the two conspire never to return to live with him.

Instead, they seek shelter at one of the drops Bo previously travelled to on a job. Wolf welcomes them into his compound with open arms. Valkyrie finds that Wolf’s plans are much more aligned with hers and her Da’s. While Bo loses sight of the mission, Valkyrie begins to plot her next move and to figure out how best to use Wolf to accomplish her Da’s mission.

The book travels between Valkyrie’s past and her current trip to leave her last message. Woolston approaches difficult topics like child abuse, sexual assault, and terrorism from a unique lens and through the voice of a strong and compelling main character.

© 2016 Catia Cunha

Catia Cunha has a BA in Theater Arts and English from Mount Holyoke College. She won Young Playwrights Inc.’s 2013 National Playwriting Competition where her short play “Legs” was presented as a staged reading at the Lucille Lortel Theatre at the culmination of the Conference. In the spring of 2013 she produced and acted in her first full-length play, ____space, which was presented at Mount Holyoke. Catia’s senior project, Disinsemination, a play about feminist lesbians and aliens, was presented as a staged reading at Smith College and Mount Holyoke in Fall 2013. Mount Holyoke’s Rooke Theatre produced it in March 2014. In October 2014 Catia participated in the Grex Group’s Insomniacs 24-hour play festival. She is currently working on a play about sea monsters in the subway.