Birdie

Spinelli, Eileen. Birdie. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman’s Books for Young Readers, 2019.

From the Dust Jacket:

Twelve-year-old Birdie Briggs loves birds. They bring her comfort when she thinks about her dad, a firefighter who was killed in the line of duty. Life without her dad isn’t easy, but at least Birdie still has Mom and Maymee, and her friends Nina and Martin.

But then Maymee gets a boyfriend, Nina and Martin start dating, and Birdie’s mom starts seeing a police officer. And suddenly not even her beloved birds can lift Birdie’s spirits. Her world is changing, and Birdie wishes things would go back to how they were before. But maybe change painful as it is, can be beautiful too.

With compelling verse and a light-hearted touch, Eileen Spinelli captures the poignancy of adolescence and shows what can happen when you let people in.

My Review:

I knew I was going to like Birdie from the first page. Eileen Spinelli’s writing draws the reader in and makes them want to keep reading.

A novel in verse, Birdie is an “easy-read.” There isn’t much text on each page and the “chapters/verses” are short making it a great book for those who have a shorter attention span. Eileen Spinelli hits on several topics pre-teens face, some on a daily basis: death of a parent, a parent who is dating, potential boyfriend being “taken” by a friend. I love the way Birdie grows and changes, much the way pre-teens do.

Birdie would be a great novel in verse to add to your Poetry Month unit or your library’s Poetry Collection.

I would not hesitate to add Birdie to my K-12 Christian School library.

I received a complimentary copy of Birdie as a member of the Land of Enchantment Awards Committee. A review was not required.

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