Rare Birds

Miller, Jeff. Rare Birds

January 31, 2023 by Union Square Kids
Copy provided by the publisher

Graham and his mother have moved several times in an attempt to find the best treatment for his mother's heart ailment. His father died when he was young, and he has quite the strategy for dealing with hospital life, from finding the best nurses to locating the ice machine with the optimal ice. The most recent move is to Sugarland, Florida, where his mother grew up, and where the Florida Clinic offers new hope. The two are living with his mother's longtime friend, Dom, who has a son Graham's age. Nick is an unhappy teen, and angry not only about sharing his room, but about his mother's remarriage and new family, including one year old twins. At the hospital, Graham meets Lou, who spends a lot of time there waiting to hear news about her father. The two bond over a love of birds, and look into participating in a local contest to find a Snail Kite and get a picture of it. The prize is $5,000, and both kids have thoughts about how to use the money. Unfortunately, so does Nick, and he and two obnoxious friends get into the hunt, sabotaging Graham and Lou at every turn. Graham spends some of his time helping Dom out with his painting; Nick, who is color blind, doesn't like to help because he has messed up in the past and doesn't like to be reprimanded. The hunt becomes more difficult when Nick and his friends ruin Graham's brand new canoe, but after a particular brutal encounter in the swamp where the friends cause Graham and Lou to capsize and the two face spending the night outside, Nick sees the error of his ways, and helps them out. Graham's mother's condition worsens, and she gets moved up on the waiting list for a new heart, but the kids are not able to get the message. Lou gets news at the same time, and there is a grim waiting period to see how things will turn out for everyone. Not all of the situations resolve happily, but Graham and his mother find a way to go forward with the help of Dom and Graham. 

Strengths: While this has all the makings of a super sad story, it is saved from sogginess by Graham's positive approach to life. I especially liked how he dealt with Nick; he showed resilience in a lot of ways, although there were moments where he struggled as well. Lou is also a positive character, and the two have a summer friendship centered around finding the "rare bird" that gives this book a page turning quality. There is just enough about Graham's mother's condition and deterioration to add tension to the search for the bird, and enough connection to her past to make it interesting. I really liked Dom, having Graham spend time painting, and all of the yummy sounding burgers, milk shakes, and onion rings at the local burger joint made me want to go to our local Swenson's for dinner! There were some twists that I don't want to ruin, and I think this will be a big hit with students and teachers alike. 
Weaknesses: The plot arc with Nick could have been fine tuned so that he was a bit more sympathetic. His friends are VERY evil, and it was hard to blame all of Nick's bad behavior on his mother's new family. Will young readers notice? I don't think they will. I just like characters to be a bit more gray. 
What I really think: I wasn't sure I would like this one, but ended up enjoying it. This had a touch of The Bridge to Terebithia (so you've been warned!) mixed with the work of Carl Hiaassen. It also reminded me a bit of St. Antoine's Three Bird Summer (2014) Add it to a growing number of books about birding that includes King's The Drake Equation (2016), Perez's Strange Birds (2019), Lorentz's Of a Feather (2019), Stark-McGinnis' Ordinary Birds (2019) McCullough's Across the Pond (2021),  and Lord's Home Away From Home (2023).