Extraordinary Birds

Extraordinary Birds
Sandy Stark-McGinnis
Bloomsbury, 2019 April, 214 pages
Grades 4-7
Realistic Fiction

Eleven year old December is off to yet another foster home armed only with two suitcases and two books: The Complete Guide to Birds vol. 1, left behind by her absent mother, and Bird Girl: an Extraordinary Tale, her fictionalized on-going biography. December believes the the scars on her back are emerging wings and that once she manages the power of flight and morphs into a bird, she will be reunited again with her mother. To encourage her wings to sprout, December keeps jumping out of trees, often with disastrous results. After the last failed attempt she is brought to the home of Eleanor, a bird rescuer who works at a wildlife rehabilitation center. December respects Eleanor's love and care of birds and kind and gentle ways, but is she really trying to lure her into a false sense of security only to stuff her, like the other creatures found in Eleanor's side-business/taxidermy workroom? School starts out with a rough start and December must find her way around a snarky group of sparkly girls who pick on the one nice person who has friendship potential. Should December stick-up for Cheryllynn, even if it means making herself a target for the mean girls?

Debut middle-grade author, McGinnis, offers a heartbreaking, yet ultimately hopeful novel for fans of sad problem fiction such as Counting by Sevens and One for the Murphy's. Sure to find an audience, I have kids in my library who will only read this type of book. Told in first person, December is a sympathetic character who's story readers will immediately care about. We slowly see December's past unfurl, as she starts to come to terms with her trauma and accept the fact that she is girl not bird. December is a fully realized character, as is Eleanor, and readers will relish their growing relationship. As December learns to trust Eleanor, so does the hawk that she is rehabilitating learn to trust her, eventually also finding healing. Cheryllyn, a girl born in a boy's body, is less developed, yet this is not her story to tell and it is age-appropriate for December to narrate about Cheryllyn only as she effects her own life. Cheryllyn's gender is not what is important about her or even obvious in the plot, its her traits as a friend and a person that is central to the story. The writing is beautiful, lyrical and atmospheric, setting it apart from the average problem novel. This book would make a wonderful choice for classroom use, as well as book discussion and the cover makes it accessible to both girls and boys. A climatic scene towards the end will have readers holding their breath, but it eventually leads to December finding "home" and peace, as the reader lets out a contented sigh.