Reviews

Blue Heron by Avi

efrancart's review

emotional reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This book read like a reddit post asking for advice. 13 year old Maggie is spending time with her dad (50), stepmother Joanna (28), and new half-sibling Linda (4mo). Apparently, the couple has been married for 3 years. Maggie’s dad divorced her mom when she was 6. Joanna was her dad’s secretary. They don’t specifically say when the relationship started. I could see him posting on r/aita and going down in flames or Joanna posting and being told to run. He has so many red flags! I feel awful for everyone around Maggie’s dad. I can understand why Maggie gets so fixated on the heron. 

I also really appreciated seeing Maggie confront her own assumptions. I don’t generally enjoy realistic fiction, avid escapist over here, but Avi did very well portraying the struggles of a child of divorce. I resonated with Maggie and her joy in nature. 

Joanna didn’t do the best with Maggie, but in fairness she is 28, a new mother, and mentally/verbally abused by her 50 year old man child of a husband. She is doing the best she can. I really liked her realization about her baby, Linda. We get to watch her realize that her daughter is a whole person she will never fully and completely know. And she takes that to mean that maybe she should start working and learning about herself. If only more parents thought this and then did the work to follow through and heal their own traumas. Joanna makes mistakes but I stan. She is the step parent i wish i could have had. 

Bonus points to the story for being disliked by a weird Christian site who disliked that it was mentioned that dragonflies were around 350 million years ago and that the parents were divorced, also for the very light swearing. The horrible treatment that the dad puts everyone through is fine. But sometimes they say not quite naughty words like “heck” so that’s not a book to be recommended. 🙄

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexism, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, and Misogyny

Minor: Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Ableism, Physical abuse, and Infidelity

jbarr5's review against another edition

4.0

Blue Heron by Avi
Have read other author's works and have enjoyed them all. This one is about Maggie and they are spending time at the shore and she has a new sister.
Magic and her father, she believes in all. Her mother gave her a crystal that is pure magic in her pocket. She travels to visit her father and step mother from Seattle all the way to MA. The shore will have much magic.
Very familiar to the area as we live nearby. It's interesting how the descriptions are so detailed-we tend to take things like the countryside for granted at times.
The heron has a magic all it's own and she wants to save her father....he spends much time on the phone doing work. She entertains herself as the stepmother is always busy with the new baby.
She studies the heron and discovers lots of things about how the bird lives and survives in the marsh.
She discovers many treasures and she also finds out her ailing father has not been taking his medicines! Someone has also been shooting arrows at the heron! Magic happens!
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

clesuma's review against another edition

4.0

Twelve year-old Maggie is uncertain what the future will hold as she arrives in New England for another August with her father, stepmother, and new half-sister Linda. Worries that her baby sister will replace her dissolve quickly, however, as Maggie discovers that her father is hiding health issues and his relationship with Joanna, her stepmother, has grown strained. Maggie's only peace comes early in the morning as she walks to the edge of the lake near their summer rental and watches a great blue heron hunt each dawn. She soon finds that even the heron is in danger, and desperately tries to save it along with her family. This quiet, melancholy book is as slow-moving and careful in its pacing as the heron that Maggie watches with such admiration. It works well in this context, as Maggie herself is a contemplative and serious girl who is careful before she speaks or acts. I enjoyed Avi's exploration of relationships within nontraditional families--who would have thought that stepmothers aren't always evil?--and though the ending left much to be desired in terms of resolutions for Maggie's family situation, it is nonetheless highly satisfying.

phoebebrooke's review against another edition

3.0

The concept, the characters, the setting, all fantastic! The writing was just too simple for my liking. I know it’s middle grade, but I’ve read lots of MG that have been very lyrics and poetic and descriptive. That’s the kind of writing I really dig. If this could have been a bit more like that, I would have really enjoyed a bit more!

aceartemis7's review against another edition

1.0

It's been a while since I've read this book. Seems like I didnt like it when I read it. Can't remember what the book was about though. Guess it didn't make an impression on me.

dandelionfluff's review against another edition

3.0

I vaguely remember liking this book when I read it years ago. Maybe I'll reread it later for old time's sake.
...makes me sound so old, jeez.

unabridgedchick's review against another edition

3.0

I don't remember much about this book except it had a strong melancholy feel to it. Perhaps my least favorite Avi book, but I suspect it had some strong messages that intimidated me.

kadyjak's review against another edition

2.0

1.5 stars. Not much happens and it's boring. And I'm guessing Avi had never been around babies before writing this because they definitely react to being played with before 4.5 ish months.