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A review by paperprivateer
The Secret Language of Birds by Lynne Kelly
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.75
Nina feels more at home watching birds than making friends at school. When she spends summer at the camp her aunt owns, she meets a group of girls who call themselves the Oddballs and invite her to join them in a camp tradition - sneaking out to an abandoned infirmary across the camp. While there, she makes a discovery: two very rare birds there seem to be building a nest, even though that kind of bird hasn't nested in Texas in over a hundred years. Nina and her new friends work together to protect the birds and learn more about themselves.
If you liked "Song for a Whale," by the same author, you'll be just as charmed and captivated by this story. Iris from Song for a Whale even makes an appearance and helps solve the mystery! It has the same heart of a young girl trying to fit in and the same clear love for wildlife. It's a coming-of-age, part mystery, part nature-loving story that is full of as much hope and joy as summer.
The characters are delightful. The parents and siblings are good people who don't always understand and make mistakes. The aunt is an adult who gets angry and upset sometimes but does her best to understand and encourage Nina's interests. Her friends all have their unique interests and challenges but embrace Nina as one of their own. There's so much empathy for Nina and her difficulties in growing up and finding the place she belongs without ever demonizing any of the grown-ups or other people in her life for not always understanding her.
I do wish the characters had more development or that we got to see Nina interact more with the other people around her. It's a clear challenge for her, and what we do get is great, but we spend a lot more time with the birds than we do with other people. It made me wonder what Nina's life would look like when she no longer had the cranes to monitor so closely. It's just hard to tell how much she's grown or if she's really gotten more comfortable with being an "oddball"
I love that Nina is a character who is willing to really love what she loves and occasionally take risks in kid-safe ways for what she's interested in. I also love how she's willing to acknowledge her mistakes and try to do better.
I didn't love this book as much as I love Song for a Whale, but it's still a fantastic book for animal lovers or lovers of middle grade books of all ages who want a sweet, delightful read.
If you liked "Song for a Whale," by the same author, you'll be just as charmed and captivated by this story. Iris from Song for a Whale even makes an appearance and helps solve the mystery! It has the same heart of a young girl trying to fit in and the same clear love for wildlife. It's a coming-of-age, part mystery, part nature-loving story that is full of as much hope and joy as summer.
The characters are delightful. The parents and siblings are good people who don't always understand and make mistakes. The aunt is an adult who gets angry and upset sometimes but does her best to understand and encourage Nina's interests. Her friends all have their unique interests and challenges but embrace Nina as one of their own. There's so much empathy for Nina and her difficulties in growing up and finding the place she belongs without ever demonizing any of the grown-ups or other people in her life for not always understanding her.
I do wish the characters had more development or that we got to see Nina interact more with the other people around her. It's a clear challenge for her, and what we do get is great, but we spend a lot more time with the birds than we do with other people. It made me wonder what Nina's life would look like when she no longer had the cranes to monitor so closely. It's just hard to tell how much she's grown or if she's really gotten more comfortable with being an "oddball"
I love that Nina is a character who is willing to really love what she loves and occasionally take risks in kid-safe ways for what she's interested in. I also love how she's willing to acknowledge her mistakes and try to do better.
I didn't love this book as much as I love Song for a Whale, but it's still a fantastic book for animal lovers or lovers of middle grade books of all ages who want a sweet, delightful read.