This was a beautifully done story. I really enjoyed getting to know Coop, and how he save this bird. I thought it was good that it uses whatever one expected Coop to be based on his parents but Coop has his own dreams and he follows them. I was invested in the story and thought it works great as a allegory to adoption. It reminded me a lot of things that I would've read or watched as a kid and it was beautifully done.

I really like the concept of this book. The cover is beautiful, but it has some really big topics, that I don’t think were properly talked about. I know my child would have questions.

SYNOPSIS
Coretta Scott King Honor–winner Brenda Woods’s poignant, heartfelt story of an adopted boy and the bird he rescues.

MY THOUGHTS
This is a wonder of a book for young readers, with that glorious cover that would not let me look away, and a heart-tugging story that uses animal rescue to illuminate issues related to adoption.

I fell in love with the young African American boy Coop, who struggles with the fact that he was adopted, and with Hop, the one-winged baby bird he rescues. I cried when a hawk injures Hop, and even more so when the vet it is taken to says mockingbirds can't be kept as pets, leading Hop to be given to a bird sanctuary.

"How could my mother ever give me up?" Coop ponders repeatedly, until he finally comes to a new understanding after he gives Hop up to the sanctuary. What a moving story, beautifully written and illustrated, and destined to bring this stellar Cincinnati-born author many more awards as she brings comfort and hope to readers. Brava, Brenda! Brava, Nadia Fisher!

Cooper is visiting his grandpop who loves birdwatching and when he climbed the tree to touch a bird’s eggs he falls and gets a concussion. While home recuperating, he finds three baby birds left the nest, and the one left has just one wing. Cooper and his friend Zandi want to save it so after naming him Hop they get a cage and begin feeding him. They decide to build a bird sanctuary. When a hawk attacks Hop they have to take him to the vet who tells him Hop is a northern hummingbird and is a protected species who needs to be in a bird rehabilitation center. Cooper wants to keep Hop and says he’ll do whatever it takes to keep him. Does Cooper get to keep Hop?

“Love is never a waste of time”. Sweet story of a kiddo grappling with what it means to be adopted and a parallel story of saving a baby bird. Representation matters and this easy entry chapter book really fills a gap for kids who wonder about where they come from and where they ended up. Written as if the author was healing their inner child, which made this a 4 star read for me.