Extraordinary Birds is a story of 11 year old December who believes she is a bird learning to take flight bouncing from foster home to foster home. December carries with her a Bird Girl biography where she rewrote her story of her being a bird. Using her extensive knowledge on extraordinary birds, December lives within herself and tries to adapt to her new foster homes. She truly believes she is a bird and uses the few memories of her mother to try to take flight by climbing trees and trying to fly.

When an unexpected foster mother comes along, one who knows just as much about birds as December, December is caught in the conflict of believing this could be a 'home' or believing she shouldn't get attached to a person or a place. At school December meets Cheryllynn, formally Charlie, who is the center of teasing at school. At first December runs from the potential of friendship, but soon discovers that it is OK to have a connection with another person. Together they navigate the challenges that come with finding their new identities.

A truly heart-wrenching but heartwarming story about a girl trying to find a place to call home and come to terms with her past. For readers who loved Lynda Mullaly Hunt's One for the Murphys, Ali Benjamin's The Thing About Jellyfish, Ann Braden's The Benefits of Being an Octopus, and Katherine Applegate's Louisina's Way Home. Grades 5+

I enjoyed this book, but did have times of not really being into the story. With that being said, I am an environmental science major and I really think this would be a fun read for my future kid, so looking forward to it coming out so I can get a copy!

This book is timely. The author has crafted a story that captures the attention and keeps it... all the way until the end.

I did really like this book, but it took me a bit to get to know December. I felt for her and her process of moving around and being in different homes, but I didn't connect with the whole her wanting to be a bird thing.
I thought it was simply written and many middle graders may find themselves in the role of December, but I am not sure that it is a book that everyone is going to love. Maybe this just wasn't the right time for me to read this book.
Thanks for the ARC Netgalley!

December touches the reader’s heart, as she moves to yet another foster home and has lost trust in people. Throughout the book, the reader learns a bit more about a variety of birds, as December believes she is a bird. December believes she has wings which will come through the scar on her back. Both her foster Mom, Eleanor and December learn so much about life together. Highly recommend! #ExtraordinaryBirds #NetGalley

I was in love with this book from the first chapter. It’s sad and beautiful in the same way as "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate—which is my ten-year-old's favorite book.

The writing is simple and poetic, without being overly complicated or too elevated for children:

“It will be an older live oak, its branches gnarled and twisting out and up, with lots of perfect places to build a nest. The tree, my flight tree, will stand by itself in a field somewhere, like it’s been waiting for me all its life.”

“If orange had a sound, it would be Karen’s voice.”

“…my destiny was written on her skin…”

“But I like his voice; it’s what trees would sound like if they could talk.”

I learned about the science of flight and anatomy and behavior and training of birds. Side note: I am not actually bird person. I did not select this book based on the fact that it had birds in it. I think birds are nice and all but I’ve never been particularly drawn to them. I was a little worried that the bird aspect would bore me, but it did not. The facts are woven into the story organically so I found myself becoming more interested as I went along. As a parent, this is exactly what I want in a book for my children—one that has them enjoy learning and expanding their interests without hitting them over the head with learning experiences.

I truly loved this book but when I came across the transgender side character I got goosebumps. A mainstream story where the protagonist has a transgender friend? A book that shows queer people as just existing beyond a coming out story? Fantastic.

It is so beautiful, sad, yes, but yet uplighting and truly a story of hope, of trust, and of friendship. Of finding your own kind, and not giving up on them.

“Every living thing should have the freedom to be who or what they are.”

“There aren’t many choices I have in my life, but what I do with my story is one.”

“If people could fix memories like they fix a house, covering up holes. stopping leaks, hanging doors back on hinges, then bad images couldn’t get through.”

Thank you, Net Galley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review. I can't express how excited I am about this book and how glad I am that I got to read it. Look for a review on my website on the release day.

I highly recommend this book. The prose is exceptional, with many lovely turns of phrase. But, even more, the story is compelling. A young girl tries to survive foster care by deciding she is a bird. Now, I share this very simplistically, because the way this comes about is beautiful and sad (don't want to give a spoiler).

So what makes this book so wonderful? First, it is very hard to write something simple enough for middle school readers but deep enough to make them care. This book uses strong characters and well-drawn metaphors to do this. Second, ideally middle grade books have to stick with you. This book really stuck with me. This young girl's struggle to survive, even when life is hard, is something most people can identify with. We might all dream we are more, or at least different than the life we were born into. But, we also learn to make the best of our lives.

This is one of the best middle school books I have read in a long time.

4.5

Thanks to NetGallery for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.