Like a Bird

February 1, 2025
Grades 8-11 For the past year, 16-year-old Rachel has lived with her annoying little sister and grandparents on their British Columbia ranch, but now she has made a huge mistake: she had sex with her 17-year-old boyfriend, Cody, and is terrified she might be pregnant. But soon after she learns she's not (phew!), Cody gives her a ring, which she refuses to wear, feeling pressured to have sex again and wondering, "What is it exactly that Cody and I have?" While Rachel is experiencing fairly typical teen Sturm und Drang, something far more important is happening: British Columbia is burning. Wildfires are everywhere, and one of them is raging toward her grandparents' ranch. When the order to evacuate comes, Rachel's grandfather stubbornly refuses to leave his property. Citra does a fine job of ratcheting up suspense as the fire gets ever closer, and there appears to be no way out. In this age of climate change, Like a Bird proves timely and relevant, good for both classroom use and independent reading.

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January 15, 2025
A wildfire threatens a family's home. The Bird family is no stranger to tragedy. Sixteen-year-old Rachel and her 7-year-old sister, Jane, have been living with their maternal grandparents, Wayne and Margaret, since their mother's death in a car accident that also claimed their uncle. Raised in Vancouver, Rachel must adjust to tiny Aspen Lake, British Columbia, and the ranch where Wayne's family has lived for generations. Introverted, awkward Rachel always feels on the periphery, connected to friends only through her relationship with boyfriend Cody. Despite Rachel's maturity, the stress of handling adult tasks, such as taking care of Jane and helping her aging grandparents, overwhelms her. She also struggles with navigating relationship crises with Cody. Meanwhile, a wildfire encroaches on surrounding areas, slowly working its way toward Aspen Lake, a metaphor for the impending sense of doom and increasing anxiety that Rachel feels. News reports form a recurring motif throughout, taking over the family members' lives as they regularly track the wildfires' progress. Rachel's reflective inner voice permeates her first-person point of view, creating meaningful, slower-paced moments amid the survival storyline. The novel prioritizes Rachel's internal conflict over the wildfire subplot, which develops incrementally, lending the work the tone of dramatic literary fiction instead of an action novel. Ultimately, readers are led to admire the resilience of both Rachel and the Bird family as a whole. Main characters are cued white. A deliberately paced, literary coming-of-age survival tale.(Fiction. 13-18)

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