Language: G (0 swears 0 'f'); Mature Content: PG (girls discussing bras and possum nipples) Violence: PG (mention of poaching)
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - OPTIONAL
APPEALS TO: SEVERAL
13yo Nina has a way with birds. She loves them, and knows a lot about them - she even imagines they are speaking to her. So, when given the opportunity to spend the summer at her Aunt's birding camp, Nina is all in. Although she'll be staying in her Aunt's cabin, she quickly falls in with a group of three who call themselves The Oddballs. On a secret campers' hike to the marsh to investigate a ghost story, the girls are startled by a huge white bird. Nina stays behind. She thinks it might be a rare whooping crane, but they don't live in Texas! Nina wasn't supposed to be at the infirmary, and she's afraid if she tells her aunt about the crane, she'll be sent home. So the Oddballs come up with a plan.
I expected some magical realism, based on an encounter with a bird in the first chapter, but that sort of thing didn't happen again. I don't feel the characters were all that well developed. I wanted to know more about Nina - she was loner at school, but seemed to fit right in with the girls at the camp - it felt like a disconnect. I learned a lot about bird conservation, especially Whooping Cranes. Cool cover art. While not a sequel or even a companion novel, I liked the occasional nod to Song for a Whale, even including Iris in the storyline. The characters default white - the wildlife official is described as Black.
Lisa Librarian
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