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Bird
A girl who was born on the day her brother Bird died has grown up in a house of silence and secrets. When she meets John, a mysterious new boy in her rural Iowan town, those secrets start to come out.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 28, 2014
71 people are currently reading
3788 people want to read
About the author
Crystal Chan
7 books87 followersCrystal Chan watched with amazement at the exotic zoo outbreak in Zanesville, Ohio in 2011, where scores of animals—hungry lions, panthers, and tigers—ran loose around the county. That incident helped inspire her most recent novel, All That I Can Fix. When Crystal isn’t writing, her passion is giving diversity talks to adults and kids alike, telling stories on Wisconsin Public Radio, and hosting conversations on social media. Her debut novel, Bird, was published in nine countries and is available on audiobook in the US. She is the parent of a teenage turtle (not a ninja).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 392 reviews
October 27, 2018
Secrets, silence and little lies
Joy is like a child… You feed it or it dies.
Where was all this joy, and where does joy go when it leaves your family? Does it goes to someone else’s family, soak into the earth, or does it dissolve away like your breath in the winter? And if it doesn’t leave like this, then why isn’t there any left for me?
This was the 7th out of 8 novels that were selected for the KJV contest 2015-2016 and by far one of the finest young adult novels of the selection. Bird pleasantly surprised me: I wouldn’t have picked a novel dealing with intense emotions like anger, loneliness and grief responding to the loss of a child, about grief, guilt and remorse freezing the affected family spontaneously.
I was delighted this sublime debut novel really resonated with the boys in the YA discussion group I had been assisting. They were genuinely amazed by the artful skills of the writer, the credible evocation of a world entirely unfamiliar to them (what magic does Chan use that I actually believe this weird story could have happened for real, one of them exclaimed). Feeling privileged by observing this breathtaking moment of consciousness-raising on the power of words with these 13 year old boys, I optimistically got home with a broad smile on my face, enjoying once more the connectedness books induce between people.
(Gabriel Isak)
Jewel, the 12 year old narrator is a bright young girl of mixed origins with a passion for geology, living in Caledonia, Iowa. She is largely ignored and left to her own devices by her embittered and grieving parents and grandfather, who are devastated by the death of Jewel’s 5 year old brother. John, nicknamed “Bird”, fell off a cliff the day Jewel was born and his death encumbers Jewel and her family ever since. They live together in murderous silence and misunderstanding, isolated from other people. There is no place for joy or peace. Chan aptly uses the theme of the family’s silence to explore human communication, for better and for worse, as a healing power, but also as a weapon:
In my house we wield silence like shields and swords: we use it to push people away or injure them.
As Jewel feels unseen and unwanted by her family, she creates her own secret places to withdraw herself to. Not an ordinary girl, she climbs into trees at night to meditate on her life – occasion on which she meets another outsider, who will become her only friend, a soulmate with a similar zeal for science, particularly for astronomy and space travelling. Observing her family from a distance, she eventually wants to find out what the omnipresent silence at home is covering up and what she is not supposed to know about the death of her brother. The encounter with her new friend stimulates her to look for new horizons, broadening her mind and breaking the silence. Jewel’s insightful reflections and lovely observations make up a great deal of this novel’s charm. And the story is written in gorgeous, poetic prose, with an outstandingly vivid depiction of nature – trees, birds, landscapes, rocks and the weather. Poignant, beautiful imagery relates the characters to natural phenomena; Jewel’s friend, a boy much out of place like herself, is like the erratic granite boulders swept away by glaciers aeons ago, ending up million miles away from the roots.
The significance of nature to Jewel almost turns nature into a character itself, not just an decorative element, but profoundly bound to the lives of the characters. The references to Jamaican culture are how Chan deals with the themes of superstition, belief and fate are imaginative, original and convincing.
A moving and heartwarming ‘coming of age’ story on family, identity, loss, friendship, trust, betrayal and forgiveness. In the end the feathers ruffled by Bird’s death are somehow smoothed. The tense family ties are soothed and strengthened at the same time.
Joy is like a child… You feed it or it dies.
Where was all this joy, and where does joy go when it leaves your family? Does it goes to someone else’s family, soak into the earth, or does it dissolve away like your breath in the winter? And if it doesn’t leave like this, then why isn’t there any left for me?
This was the 7th out of 8 novels that were selected for the KJV contest 2015-2016 and by far one of the finest young adult novels of the selection. Bird pleasantly surprised me: I wouldn’t have picked a novel dealing with intense emotions like anger, loneliness and grief responding to the loss of a child, about grief, guilt and remorse freezing the affected family spontaneously.
I was delighted this sublime debut novel really resonated with the boys in the YA discussion group I had been assisting. They were genuinely amazed by the artful skills of the writer, the credible evocation of a world entirely unfamiliar to them (what magic does Chan use that I actually believe this weird story could have happened for real, one of them exclaimed). Feeling privileged by observing this breathtaking moment of consciousness-raising on the power of words with these 13 year old boys, I optimistically got home with a broad smile on my face, enjoying once more the connectedness books induce between people.
(Gabriel Isak)
Jewel, the 12 year old narrator is a bright young girl of mixed origins with a passion for geology, living in Caledonia, Iowa. She is largely ignored and left to her own devices by her embittered and grieving parents and grandfather, who are devastated by the death of Jewel’s 5 year old brother. John, nicknamed “Bird”, fell off a cliff the day Jewel was born and his death encumbers Jewel and her family ever since. They live together in murderous silence and misunderstanding, isolated from other people. There is no place for joy or peace. Chan aptly uses the theme of the family’s silence to explore human communication, for better and for worse, as a healing power, but also as a weapon:
In my house we wield silence like shields and swords: we use it to push people away or injure them.
As Jewel feels unseen and unwanted by her family, she creates her own secret places to withdraw herself to. Not an ordinary girl, she climbs into trees at night to meditate on her life – occasion on which she meets another outsider, who will become her only friend, a soulmate with a similar zeal for science, particularly for astronomy and space travelling. Observing her family from a distance, she eventually wants to find out what the omnipresent silence at home is covering up and what she is not supposed to know about the death of her brother. The encounter with her new friend stimulates her to look for new horizons, broadening her mind and breaking the silence. Jewel’s insightful reflections and lovely observations make up a great deal of this novel’s charm. And the story is written in gorgeous, poetic prose, with an outstandingly vivid depiction of nature – trees, birds, landscapes, rocks and the weather. Poignant, beautiful imagery relates the characters to natural phenomena; Jewel’s friend, a boy much out of place like herself, is like the erratic granite boulders swept away by glaciers aeons ago, ending up million miles away from the roots.
The significance of nature to Jewel almost turns nature into a character itself, not just an decorative element, but profoundly bound to the lives of the characters. The references to Jamaican culture are how Chan deals with the themes of superstition, belief and fate are imaginative, original and convincing.
A moving and heartwarming ‘coming of age’ story on family, identity, loss, friendship, trust, betrayal and forgiveness. In the end the feathers ruffled by Bird’s death are somehow smoothed. The tense family ties are soothed and strengthened at the same time.
September 4, 2024
I think this book was meant for a young audience, but it was too sad. I cannot think of any reason I would ever have any of my kids read this book, unless they were in the same/similar situation as Jewel, which is probably more common than we’d like but also relatively uncommon in the world in general.
June 30, 2015
See more reviews at YA Midnight Reads
4.5 stars
Bird really surprised me--the writing was absolutely spectacular, I loved the prose so much and I found it hard to put it down because of it. Crystal Chan also mastered the characters. They are perfectly flawed (which sounds awfully contradictory) and I felt myself growing onto them when I close the book. The presence of family is obvious and the drama within was also handled well. You know what? Bird ticks all the boxes for a successful contemporary novel.
A lot of things happened when Bird died. Jewel was born, her grandfather stopped speaking and her family was left in a grief that never seemed to have an end. Jewel's parents blame Grandpa. See, Bird's real name was John but Grandpa said he looked more like a Bird, they way he flapped his arms so much--as if he was about to take flight. And when Jewel was born, Bird took this chance to go to the cliff and see if he could really fly--his father even claims that it was the duppies (spirits). But he could not fly. When Bird jumped, he fell, down down down to his death.
Like I had aforementioned, what shines most in this book was Crystal Chan's prodigious ability to write. Anyone who picks up this book is going to struggle to put it down--I'm that certain. Here's just an example:
I know I only have this 4.5 stars even though I've mentioned no flaws--but I'll be honest, I don't give those out until I get blown off my feet completely. Still, I highly recommend this to all readers--not just contemporary fans. A novel about acceptance and forgiveness, finding yourself and that making mistakes is totally okay. I am eagerly waiting for the author's next books--she better write more because this beautiful prose should not be just just shown off in one book.
4.5 stars
Bird really surprised me--the writing was absolutely spectacular, I loved the prose so much and I found it hard to put it down because of it. Crystal Chan also mastered the characters. They are perfectly flawed (which sounds awfully contradictory) and I felt myself growing onto them when I close the book. The presence of family is obvious and the drama within was also handled well. You know what? Bird ticks all the boxes for a successful contemporary novel.
A lot of things happened when Bird died. Jewel was born, her grandfather stopped speaking and her family was left in a grief that never seemed to have an end. Jewel's parents blame Grandpa. See, Bird's real name was John but Grandpa said he looked more like a Bird, they way he flapped his arms so much--as if he was about to take flight. And when Jewel was born, Bird took this chance to go to the cliff and see if he could really fly--his father even claims that it was the duppies (spirits). But he could not fly. When Bird jumped, he fell, down down down to his death.
Like I had aforementioned, what shines most in this book was Crystal Chan's prodigious ability to write. Anyone who picks up this book is going to struggle to put it down--I'm that certain. Here's just an example:
I closed my eyes as I stood there, my back muscles relaxing, my arms stretched out, settling into their openness. I didn't know how long I stood there, but I listened to everything I could, to the mice rustling through the leaves, to the bending grasses, to the hollowness of the air over the cliff.
I know I only have this 4.5 stars even though I've mentioned no flaws--but I'll be honest, I don't give those out until I get blown off my feet completely. Still, I highly recommend this to all readers--not just contemporary fans. A novel about acceptance and forgiveness, finding yourself and that making mistakes is totally okay. I am eagerly waiting for the author's next books--she better write more because this beautiful prose should not be just just shown off in one book.
~Thank you Text Publishing for sending me this copy!~
Read
September 9, 2020Wow. This book made me very, very angry.
It started out great. It's a debut novel that came out in 2014, about a 12-year-old girl whose brother died in an accident on the same day she was born. There are mystical elements to the story, and some fantastic one-liners.
The protagonist, Jewel, is biracial: Jamaican on her father's side, Mexican American on her mother's side. The author is also biracial, and in her bio she explains that she's “been trying to find her place in the world” for a long time.
I loved the parts of this novel where the protagonist laments what it feels like, being a brown girl in a white town in Iowa. She says, “it's confusing to hear folks ask me what I am. Shouldn't they ask who I am? Why am I a what?”
My girls were nodding their heads in these parts. Each of my daughters is the only Asian student in her class, and my youngest is the only Asian child in her entire grade. My girls know a little something about being different, and they were both enjoying this read.
Then the protagonist meets a boy named John (which was her dead brother's name), and there's this mystery surrounding John. . . is he the dead brother, a ghost? He's darker than Jewel, and she's thrilled to find another “brown” friend in town, though his home life is sketchy.
John has shared with Jewel that he's adopted, and that his “adoptive parents” are horrible people. (Of course they are, they almost always are in books). When John admires some photographs of family members at Jewel's house. . . it all went downhill fast for me.
John tells Jewel, “I don't know anything about anyone in my family,” and this makes Jewel gasp in discomfort, because she “forgot John was adopted.”
Why should John not “know anything about anyone in [his] family?”
His family are the people who raised him. He's 12. Therefore, he should have at least 12 years of knowledge about his family.
As a biracial girl, Jewel complains, “My body doesn't shout out that I belong to my parents; it only whispers. . .” then contributes, “But John's body doesn't even whisper.”
Hmm. Okay. We get the struggle for physical identity. Our family understands what it feels like, not to look like one another. We're a biracial family. We're stared at frequently, too.
But, then we find out that John's family is white, and he's Black or biracial, so he tells Jewel, “It's not like they're even my family.” Why? Because they're white? This is not even explained.
Jewel then asks, “What do you know about your real parents?” And then goes on to convince him that he should find his “real parents.” Then he'll be happy.
Agggggghhhhhh!!!! Please. Can you imagine how awful it is to keep proliferating a notion that a parent or a child is “fake” or “surreal” by suggesting that there is someone else out there who is more “real?”
I'm all for fictional characters having organic conversations that can make the reader uncomfortable, and fictional characters having their own experiences, even if they are very different from mine, but it made no cogent sense to me that Jewel, who is completely invalidated by her biological parents, would make the assumption that John's parents aren't “real.”
It also seems as though the search for identity/validation is the main reason the author wrote this book, so why does she choose to invalidate others along the way?
When Jewel goes on to wonder how much better her friend John's life would be if he found his “real, Black mother,” I started skimming ahead, saw the direction the story was taking, then closed the book and had a conversation with my daughters instead.
Really? A middle grades read with this much insensitivity in it? Do you know how many parents I know whose children are a different race from them? I've never seen such dedication or love.
I was flabbergasted at how the topic of adoption was handled in this book, and I would have been incredibly upset if my 12-year-old had chosen to read this on her own and didn't know how to process this mess.
Seriously. . . here we are trying to promote a wider acceptance of all people. . . except what? The adopted ones? Everyone, except adopted people? What an upsetting and invalidating read.
DNF, and I refuse to rate it.
Also, I'd like to leave a calling card for the author, from Hafez:
I am glad someone thinks they are real,
real enough that they respond to names,
real enough to show up for work on time
and pay their bills.
For what would happen to the world if
there weren't courageous people like that
around,
willing to do the dirty work. . . of thinking
they exist?
It started out great. It's a debut novel that came out in 2014, about a 12-year-old girl whose brother died in an accident on the same day she was born. There are mystical elements to the story, and some fantastic one-liners.
The protagonist, Jewel, is biracial: Jamaican on her father's side, Mexican American on her mother's side. The author is also biracial, and in her bio she explains that she's “been trying to find her place in the world” for a long time.
I loved the parts of this novel where the protagonist laments what it feels like, being a brown girl in a white town in Iowa. She says, “it's confusing to hear folks ask me what I am. Shouldn't they ask who I am? Why am I a what?”
My girls were nodding their heads in these parts. Each of my daughters is the only Asian student in her class, and my youngest is the only Asian child in her entire grade. My girls know a little something about being different, and they were both enjoying this read.
Then the protagonist meets a boy named John (which was her dead brother's name), and there's this mystery surrounding John. . . is he the dead brother, a ghost? He's darker than Jewel, and she's thrilled to find another “brown” friend in town, though his home life is sketchy.
John has shared with Jewel that he's adopted, and that his “adoptive parents” are horrible people. (Of course they are, they almost always are in books). When John admires some photographs of family members at Jewel's house. . . it all went downhill fast for me.
John tells Jewel, “I don't know anything about anyone in my family,” and this makes Jewel gasp in discomfort, because she “forgot John was adopted.”
Why should John not “know anything about anyone in [his] family?”
His family are the people who raised him. He's 12. Therefore, he should have at least 12 years of knowledge about his family.
As a biracial girl, Jewel complains, “My body doesn't shout out that I belong to my parents; it only whispers. . .” then contributes, “But John's body doesn't even whisper.”
Hmm. Okay. We get the struggle for physical identity. Our family understands what it feels like, not to look like one another. We're a biracial family. We're stared at frequently, too.
But, then we find out that John's family is white, and he's Black or biracial, so he tells Jewel, “It's not like they're even my family.” Why? Because they're white? This is not even explained.
Jewel then asks, “What do you know about your real parents?” And then goes on to convince him that he should find his “real parents.” Then he'll be happy.
Agggggghhhhhh!!!! Please. Can you imagine how awful it is to keep proliferating a notion that a parent or a child is “fake” or “surreal” by suggesting that there is someone else out there who is more “real?”
I'm all for fictional characters having organic conversations that can make the reader uncomfortable, and fictional characters having their own experiences, even if they are very different from mine, but it made no cogent sense to me that Jewel, who is completely invalidated by her biological parents, would make the assumption that John's parents aren't “real.”
It also seems as though the search for identity/validation is the main reason the author wrote this book, so why does she choose to invalidate others along the way?
When Jewel goes on to wonder how much better her friend John's life would be if he found his “real, Black mother,” I started skimming ahead, saw the direction the story was taking, then closed the book and had a conversation with my daughters instead.
Really? A middle grades read with this much insensitivity in it? Do you know how many parents I know whose children are a different race from them? I've never seen such dedication or love.
I was flabbergasted at how the topic of adoption was handled in this book, and I would have been incredibly upset if my 12-year-old had chosen to read this on her own and didn't know how to process this mess.
Seriously. . . here we are trying to promote a wider acceptance of all people. . . except what? The adopted ones? Everyone, except adopted people? What an upsetting and invalidating read.
DNF, and I refuse to rate it.
Also, I'd like to leave a calling card for the author, from Hafez:
I am glad someone thinks they are real,
real enough that they respond to names,
real enough to show up for work on time
and pay their bills.
For what would happen to the world if
there weren't courageous people like that
around,
willing to do the dirty work. . . of thinking
they exist?
July 18, 2016
This middle-grade book has gotten much attention, and rightfully so. Chan has a fluid, wise, poetic prose style and a large heart that leaves everything on the page. As someone who is biracial, I wish I had had this book growing up. The narrator, Jewel, is of Jamaican and Mexican descent, and Chan manages to weave in culture, geology, astronomy, and the supernatural all in one touching tale of loss and healing. In a world where children are becoming slaves to the screen, I wish for them Chan's world of cliffs and trees, and grasses and lakes. And while this is for younger children, teens and adults are reading it and getting much from her artfully woven story.
Every reader of any age can relate in some way to Jewel's search for acceptance and joy. "Joy is like a child ... you feed it or it dies." We all need to be reminded by children like Jewel how to be joyful and how to treat each other. Buy this book for every MG reader you know. It's an important, winning debut.
Every reader of any age can relate in some way to Jewel's search for acceptance and joy. "Joy is like a child ... you feed it or it dies." We all need to be reminded by children like Jewel how to be joyful and how to treat each other. Buy this book for every MG reader you know. It's an important, winning debut.
February 3, 2014
When I first heard about Bird from Text I felt really excited. It sounded gorgeous and special and a little bit mysterious. Plus the cover is seriously something else (in person it is even more striking). I dove straight in the day it arrived and had no idea what to expect. It took less than a paragraph to feel hooked, and less than a chapter for Jewel to set up camp in my heart.
Jewel is my favourite kind of heroine: fierce and creative and lonely and marching along to the beat of her own drum. She's daring and smart and unashamedly stands out from the crowd. She's surrounded by a tragedy that's coloured her entire existence and yet her optimism shines, thumps along even as danger and mystery shroud her. Things go from bad to worse and revelations leave her (and us - the readers) reeling.
It wasn't just Jewel (love her) or the mystery (I had no idea how things were going to turn out) that kept me turning the pages -- Chan's prose is truly gorgeous, just the right blend of humour and sentiment, poetic but never flowery, succinct and cutting right to the core of emotions. The dialogue is awesome, and being inside Jewel's mind is a treat -- she thinks beautiful and unexpected things, ever hopeful and always loveable. This book feels like it was a labour of love -- and it makes it a treasure to behold.
My reviews always tend to focus on how I responded to a book -- I like to leave the plot a surprise, but here's a taste of what you will find inside Bird: small isolated town (the setting is sublime, engaging all the readers senses), Jamaican culture, a mysterious and fun new friendship (but can it be trusted?), duppies (discover for yourself...), family secrets and a heroine with a heart so big she bursts from the page. Jewel is younger than the usual YA heroine - but she's a perfect voice for upper MG, YA and adult readers to connect to.
Bird's fairytale vibe an intoxicating blend of whimsy and realism that left me feeling like anything could happen. An astonishing debut that I highly, completely recommend.
August 9, 2018
"Büyükbabam, ağabeyim John'un ölümüne neden olduğu günden sonra bir daha konuşmamış." Sf:7
December 8, 2023
ich glaube mit diesem buch hab ich damals meine liebe zu büchern gefunden, die weh tun.
möchte jetzt mein 11 jähriges ich umarmen
möchte jetzt mein 11 jähriges ich umarmen
July 5, 2023
3.5*
,, Unde era toata bucuria și încotro se îndreaptă când pleacă din familia ta? O absoarbe Pământul? Și dacă nu pleacă, atunci de ce n-a mai rămas nimic și pentru mine?"
O tânără ce a fost născută în ziua în care fratele sau, Bird, a decedat, traieste toata viata ei intr-o casa în care predomina liniștea și unde secretele umplu atmosfera. Atunci când îl întâlnește pe John, un baiat enigmatic, aceste secrete ies la iveala.
Am scris ceva asemănător cu textul de pe coperta a 4-a.
Sa fiu sincera, prima sintagma din carte mi a trezit un oarecare interes: ,,Bunicul nu a mai scos niciun cuvânt din ziua în care l-a omorât pe John,fratele meu". Nu ma asteptam ca parintii lui Jewel sa fie atat de ipocriți. Tot timpul am crezut ca vor fi doi adulți suportivi fata de fiica lor,pentru ca moartea lui Bird nu a fost o trauma numai pt ei.
Este scrisa decent, foarte ușor de citit, dar, trebuie sa recunoaștem ca se cuvenea mai multa filosofie. Cel mai important reper din carte este moartea lui Bird, dar moartea însăși, este un sentiment, oaspetele oricui. Dacă era prezentata și în carte în felul acesta, stârnea empatie fata de personaje.
Nu stiu ce a vrut sa încurajeze aceasta lectura, dar a transmis un mesaj foarte negativ. Nimic rău nu s-ar fi întâmplat în familie dacă parintii treceau peste decesul fiului lor, sau măcar reușeau sa mascheze acest sentiment,pentru a nu-si influenta fiica.
Așadar, a fost o carte OK dar nu wow.
,, Unde era toata bucuria și încotro se îndreaptă când pleacă din familia ta? O absoarbe Pământul? Și dacă nu pleacă, atunci de ce n-a mai rămas nimic și pentru mine?"
O tânără ce a fost născută în ziua în care fratele sau, Bird, a decedat, traieste toata viata ei intr-o casa în care predomina liniștea și unde secretele umplu atmosfera. Atunci când îl întâlnește pe John, un baiat enigmatic, aceste secrete ies la iveala.
Am scris ceva asemănător cu textul de pe coperta a 4-a.
Sa fiu sincera, prima sintagma din carte mi a trezit un oarecare interes: ,,Bunicul nu a mai scos niciun cuvânt din ziua în care l-a omorât pe John,fratele meu". Nu ma asteptam ca parintii lui Jewel sa fie atat de ipocriți. Tot timpul am crezut ca vor fi doi adulți suportivi fata de fiica lor,pentru ca moartea lui Bird nu a fost o trauma numai pt ei.
Este scrisa decent, foarte ușor de citit, dar, trebuie sa recunoaștem ca se cuvenea mai multa filosofie. Cel mai important reper din carte este moartea lui Bird, dar moartea însăși, este un sentiment, oaspetele oricui. Dacă era prezentata și în carte în felul acesta, stârnea empatie fata de personaje.
Nu stiu ce a vrut sa încurajeze aceasta lectura, dar a transmis un mesaj foarte negativ. Nimic rău nu s-ar fi întâmplat în familie dacă parintii treceau peste decesul fiului lor, sau măcar reușeau sa mascheze acest sentiment,pentru a nu-si influenta fiica.
Așadar, a fost o carte OK dar nu wow.
February 10, 2014
*This review also appears on the blog Chasm of Books*
Thank you to Text Publishing Australia for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
I found Bird to be a beautifully written novel of grief, friendship and the idea that although things might not always be what they seem, things can still work out in the end. Crystal Chan has used some evocative imagery throughout the book to set a lovely scene for how one girl grows through her new experiences.
As Bird's life ended, Jewel's was only just beginning. On that one fateful day her brother John believed he could fly, and jumped off the cliff as a result. Jewel's grandpa stopped speaking after that. Her father takes after grandpa in his belief in spirits and that is was 'duppies' which made Bird (John) do what he did. As Jewel's family is still trying to piece things together and patch the hole that Bird left in his wake, tensions rise and the cracks begin to show. Through meeting a new friend and realising what else is out there with the importance of the cliff, Jewel develops as a character and grows as a person.
What the author did superbly well with this book was write it with such pictorial language. Everywhere, scattered throughout the story were some lovely similes and metaphors which immediately added to the depth of the novel and its potential. A book that is simply entertaining is one thing, but to be written in such a beautiful style is another talent altogether. The vivid descriptions of the cliff and how it felt for Jewel to be there were executed perfectly and really set the scene for the reader in their minds.
Also, the characters in the book were all distinguishable and unique with their own special features. Jewel was a great character in particular, and the author captured her age on the cusp of adolescence really well. The rest of her family were also invested in, and each had both their perks and downfalls. The drama that ensued in certain parts of the novel gave it a sense of reality and fit in well with what was going on in the story. Jewel's relationships with her parents and new friend John were more complex than they first appeared. Everything that Crystal Chan envisioned in the characters came through clearly, with enough subtlety to match the writing style.
*CONCLUSION*
In conclusion, Bird is a novel that I would highly recommend for contemporary fans. Both older middle-grade readers and those who like the young-adult genre are sure to appreciate this book for its beautiful prose and a storyline with a journey of self discovery.
Thank you to Text Publishing Australia for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
Nothing matters, I realized. Only Bird Matters. And he flew away.
I found Bird to be a beautifully written novel of grief, friendship and the idea that although things might not always be what they seem, things can still work out in the end. Crystal Chan has used some evocative imagery throughout the book to set a lovely scene for how one girl grows through her new experiences.
As Bird's life ended, Jewel's was only just beginning. On that one fateful day her brother John believed he could fly, and jumped off the cliff as a result. Jewel's grandpa stopped speaking after that. Her father takes after grandpa in his belief in spirits and that is was 'duppies' which made Bird (John) do what he did. As Jewel's family is still trying to piece things together and patch the hole that Bird left in his wake, tensions rise and the cracks begin to show. Through meeting a new friend and realising what else is out there with the importance of the cliff, Jewel develops as a character and grows as a person.
What the author did superbly well with this book was write it with such pictorial language. Everywhere, scattered throughout the story were some lovely similes and metaphors which immediately added to the depth of the novel and its potential. A book that is simply entertaining is one thing, but to be written in such a beautiful style is another talent altogether. The vivid descriptions of the cliff and how it felt for Jewel to be there were executed perfectly and really set the scene for the reader in their minds.
Also, the characters in the book were all distinguishable and unique with their own special features. Jewel was a great character in particular, and the author captured her age on the cusp of adolescence really well. The rest of her family were also invested in, and each had both their perks and downfalls. The drama that ensued in certain parts of the novel gave it a sense of reality and fit in well with what was going on in the story. Jewel's relationships with her parents and new friend John were more complex than they first appeared. Everything that Crystal Chan envisioned in the characters came through clearly, with enough subtlety to match the writing style.
*CONCLUSION*
In conclusion, Bird is a novel that I would highly recommend for contemporary fans. Both older middle-grade readers and those who like the young-adult genre are sure to appreciate this book for its beautiful prose and a storyline with a journey of self discovery.
July 3, 2017
Win a copy of bird http://www.divabooknerd.com/2014/02/b...
Bird was a beautifully haunting and poignant story about love, loss and how sometimes a family needs to fall apart before we can put it back together. Jewel is an intelligent and empathetic young lady, who deserves to be seen, to be nurtured and to be loved. Her parents may not have intentionally placed expectations upon Jewel, but Jewel certainly has. She sees herself as the replacement child for her brother Bird. Where Bird had the best of her family, now Jewel getting only what remains. Her story is incredibly sad, until John enters the picture. John shares his name with Bird, his real name that is, and may even be a mirror of what Bird may have looked like at the same age. The family believe it may be a sign, whether one of evil or not is yet to be seen.
Unbelievably, this is a debut novel. Crystal Chan is a storyteller who paints a vivid picture for her readers, and fills it with indepth characters that will take your emotions to the limits. I absolutely loved Jewel's character. She may be only twelve, but she felt like an old soul that deserves more than what life has given her. Her parents weren't cruel, but too busy grieving for Bird, that even twelve years later they can't find the strength to provide a life for their living child. With no one to talk to, Jewel finds solace in the earth. Each grievance is placed upon a stone and buried, using it as a coping mechanism as she's scared to upset her parents any further. It takes her grandpa who begins to form a relationship with Jewel to see how special this young lady truly is. Her journey was heartbreaking, often leaving me highly emotional which for me is the sign of a brilliant author. As the story built and reached a crescendo, I found myself quietly sobbing, smiling and sighing.
Bird is the middle grade equivalent to The Fault in our Stars.
Bird was a beautifully haunting and poignant story about love, loss and how sometimes a family needs to fall apart before we can put it back together. Jewel is an intelligent and empathetic young lady, who deserves to be seen, to be nurtured and to be loved. Her parents may not have intentionally placed expectations upon Jewel, but Jewel certainly has. She sees herself as the replacement child for her brother Bird. Where Bird had the best of her family, now Jewel getting only what remains. Her story is incredibly sad, until John enters the picture. John shares his name with Bird, his real name that is, and may even be a mirror of what Bird may have looked like at the same age. The family believe it may be a sign, whether one of evil or not is yet to be seen.
Unbelievably, this is a debut novel. Crystal Chan is a storyteller who paints a vivid picture for her readers, and fills it with indepth characters that will take your emotions to the limits. I absolutely loved Jewel's character. She may be only twelve, but she felt like an old soul that deserves more than what life has given her. Her parents weren't cruel, but too busy grieving for Bird, that even twelve years later they can't find the strength to provide a life for their living child. With no one to talk to, Jewel finds solace in the earth. Each grievance is placed upon a stone and buried, using it as a coping mechanism as she's scared to upset her parents any further. It takes her grandpa who begins to form a relationship with Jewel to see how special this young lady truly is. Her journey was heartbreaking, often leaving me highly emotional which for me is the sign of a brilliant author. As the story built and reached a crescendo, I found myself quietly sobbing, smiling and sighing.
Bird is the middle grade equivalent to The Fault in our Stars.
February 4, 2014
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
I did not RUE my decision.*
My experience with Bird by Crystal Chan really reaffirms my love of audiobooks. See, this is a book I NEVER would have picked up were it not for the fact that I’m powerless against a celebrity narrator. The blurb of the book really didn’t appeal to me, but Amandla Stenberg is adorable, so I had to try this book. Though it’s very much not my usual type of book, Bird by Crystal Chan really worked, particularly due to Stenberg’s performance.
Read the full review at A Reader of Fictions.
* This is narrated by Amandla Stenberg, who played Rue in The Hunger Games.**
**I sense your groans and they please me.
I did not RUE my decision.*
My experience with Bird by Crystal Chan really reaffirms my love of audiobooks. See, this is a book I NEVER would have picked up were it not for the fact that I’m powerless against a celebrity narrator. The blurb of the book really didn’t appeal to me, but Amandla Stenberg is adorable, so I had to try this book. Though it’s very much not my usual type of book, Bird by Crystal Chan really worked, particularly due to Stenberg’s performance.
Read the full review at A Reader of Fictions.
* This is narrated by Amandla Stenberg, who played Rue in The Hunger Games.**
**I sense your groans and they please me.
June 16, 2018
Okay I just finished this and I'm still wiping the tears away. "Grandpa stopped speaking the day he killed my brother John". Yeah that's the first sentence in this book so if you have a heart at some point your going to cry during this book.
This is a must read. Seriously. I didn't want to put it down.
This is a must read. Seriously. I didn't want to put it down.
October 21, 2014
My ARC of Bird was sent to me by the publisher through Goodreads First Reads giveaway. I was not obligated to write a positive review. This is my full and honest opinion.
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? There's nothing very exciting about the cover art, and normally I wouldn't pay it much mind. But I do have a thing for silhouettes, and once I saw the silhouette I decided to read the synopsis. And that's what really caught my attention. Intrigue-level aside, it is aesthetically pleasing. I love the blue-purple color and the watercolor style of it.
Characters: Jewel was easy to emotionally connect with. She tries to do everything her parents ask of her, including never talking about what happened to her brother, and they constantly ignore her and never listen to what she needs or wants. Normally, a character in this situation can come across as bratty, but I totally sympathized with Jewel and really didn't like her parents all that much - especially her mom. It took me a while to warm to the "mysterious boy" - John. He had a great sense of humor and listened to Jewel like a good friend, but at times he was too disrespectful of Jewel's house and its rules. It made me want to slap it him, but overall he was a cool character.
The Romance: There isn't any! I was worried at first reading about a "mysterious boy," but all Jewel and John have is a really good friendship.
Plot: Everyone knows that it's Grandpa's fault that Jewel's brother Bird died when he was five. If Grandpa hadn't given him that nickname, it wouldn't have attracted a mischievous spirit - a duppy - that convinced Bird that he could actually fly. And Bird would not have leaped off that cliff. Ever since that day, Grandpa has never said another word. And on the day that Bird died and Grandpa lost his voice, Jewel was born. All her life, her family has been cast in shadows and sorrow because of Bird's death. No one will talk about it and her parents are too wrapped up in their old grief to pay much attention to their daughter. Jewel has learned to keep her hopes and dreams to herself. She's definitely never told her parents that she visits the cliff where her brother died and buries pebbles for every concern and dream she ever has. One summer, though, things change. Jewel finds a boy sitting in her favorite tree, named John - the same name as her brother. Grandpa is convinced that John is an evil duppy come to take Jewel away, while her dad believes he at least is a bad omen. But Jewel thinks that John is something much more; a chance to change her life. John listens to her dreams for the future and he shows her how to laugh again. But she can't deny the odd coincidence of his name being the same as Bird's, or that the silence in her household has grown into anger and malice. Is John a duppy or just a boy trying to change Jewel's life for the better? When I first read the synopsis for Bird, I thought it either would be inspirational or would take a dark and twisted turn with the whole duppy concept. It took the first path. While there certainly is more to John than at first meets the eye, this is mostly an inspirational story about a young girl fighting to be heard in a family swept in unimaginable grief. I don't like inspirational reads. Nine times out of ten, they're depressing and have no real purpose. However, Bird wasn't one of those. I connected so deeply with Jewel and had such moments of frustration with her parents that I couldn't help but be swept away by the story. It was a very emotionally charged book. I don't normally get into books like that, but there was just something about this one that wormed its way into my heart.
Believability: Nothing to complain about.
Writing Style: First person, past tense. Jewel has an excellent narration voice. It's emotional, it's hopeful, it's filled with pain and a burning need to be seen by her family. The descriptions are rich and deep; I just couldn't help but be pulled in by it. I felt Jewel's emotions almost as if they were my own, and that's hard to do in a story - to get your Readers to feel everything the protagonist does.
Content: None.
Conclusion: Probably the most emotionally charged moment in the book, and also surprisingly intense. I felt Jewel's fury building and I knew it would end it relative disaster. However, this isn't a bittersweet ending - not exactly. And that's part of why I liked Bird so much. I hate inspirational reads that end with everyone dying of illness or killing themselves. This isn't one of those. Every once in a while, I will find an inspirational read that I actually like. Bird was amazing; I laughed, I cried, I got incredibly angry at certain characters, and fell in love with others. There was just nothing about Bird that I didn't like.
Recommended Audience: Girl-read, really appropriate for any age, though this is a Middle Grade read that will appeal more to adults. Fans of inspirational reads will love it.
Cover Blurb: Yes or No? There's nothing very exciting about the cover art, and normally I wouldn't pay it much mind. But I do have a thing for silhouettes, and once I saw the silhouette I decided to read the synopsis. And that's what really caught my attention. Intrigue-level aside, it is aesthetically pleasing. I love the blue-purple color and the watercolor style of it.
Characters: Jewel was easy to emotionally connect with. She tries to do everything her parents ask of her, including never talking about what happened to her brother, and they constantly ignore her and never listen to what she needs or wants. Normally, a character in this situation can come across as bratty, but I totally sympathized with Jewel and really didn't like her parents all that much - especially her mom. It took me a while to warm to the "mysterious boy" - John. He had a great sense of humor and listened to Jewel like a good friend, but at times he was too disrespectful of Jewel's house and its rules. It made me want to slap it him, but overall he was a cool character.
The Romance: There isn't any! I was worried at first reading about a "mysterious boy," but all Jewel and John have is a really good friendship.
Plot: Everyone knows that it's Grandpa's fault that Jewel's brother Bird died when he was five. If Grandpa hadn't given him that nickname, it wouldn't have attracted a mischievous spirit - a duppy - that convinced Bird that he could actually fly. And Bird would not have leaped off that cliff. Ever since that day, Grandpa has never said another word. And on the day that Bird died and Grandpa lost his voice, Jewel was born. All her life, her family has been cast in shadows and sorrow because of Bird's death. No one will talk about it and her parents are too wrapped up in their old grief to pay much attention to their daughter. Jewel has learned to keep her hopes and dreams to herself. She's definitely never told her parents that she visits the cliff where her brother died and buries pebbles for every concern and dream she ever has. One summer, though, things change. Jewel finds a boy sitting in her favorite tree, named John - the same name as her brother. Grandpa is convinced that John is an evil duppy come to take Jewel away, while her dad believes he at least is a bad omen. But Jewel thinks that John is something much more; a chance to change her life. John listens to her dreams for the future and he shows her how to laugh again. But she can't deny the odd coincidence of his name being the same as Bird's, or that the silence in her household has grown into anger and malice. Is John a duppy or just a boy trying to change Jewel's life for the better? When I first read the synopsis for Bird, I thought it either would be inspirational or would take a dark and twisted turn with the whole duppy concept. It took the first path. While there certainly is more to John than at first meets the eye, this is mostly an inspirational story about a young girl fighting to be heard in a family swept in unimaginable grief. I don't like inspirational reads. Nine times out of ten, they're depressing and have no real purpose. However, Bird wasn't one of those. I connected so deeply with Jewel and had such moments of frustration with her parents that I couldn't help but be swept away by the story. It was a very emotionally charged book. I don't normally get into books like that, but there was just something about this one that wormed its way into my heart.
Believability: Nothing to complain about.
Writing Style: First person, past tense. Jewel has an excellent narration voice. It's emotional, it's hopeful, it's filled with pain and a burning need to be seen by her family. The descriptions are rich and deep; I just couldn't help but be pulled in by it. I felt Jewel's emotions almost as if they were my own, and that's hard to do in a story - to get your Readers to feel everything the protagonist does.
Content: None.
Conclusion: Probably the most emotionally charged moment in the book, and also surprisingly intense. I felt Jewel's fury building and I knew it would end it relative disaster. However, this isn't a bittersweet ending - not exactly. And that's part of why I liked Bird so much. I hate inspirational reads that end with everyone dying of illness or killing themselves. This isn't one of those. Every once in a while, I will find an inspirational read that I actually like. Bird was amazing; I laughed, I cried, I got incredibly angry at certain characters, and fell in love with others. There was just nothing about Bird that I didn't like.
Recommended Audience: Girl-read, really appropriate for any age, though this is a Middle Grade read that will appeal more to adults. Fans of inspirational reads will love it.
May 22, 2023
3.5
Writing an elaborate review soon
Writing an elaborate review soon
August 2, 2019
50/15
🇴 🇻 🇪 🇷 🇷 🇦 🇹 🇪 🇩 💯
🇴 🇻 🇪 🇷 🇷 🇦 🇹 🇪 🇩 💯
January 3, 2014
I received Bird on Christmas Eve, it was a great early present. I dived straight into reading it as I won the book in a giveaway and was asked to review it. Reading the first few pages it jumps straight into what the young girl has coped with through her life. Instead of some books where they take a while to get to the backstory, with Bird it is in the first few lines. Bird is a different genre style to must books as I stick usually to, paranormal and fantasy. But this book has definitely opened my mind to other styles. The story is a moving and emotional ride, some people could relate to the narrator Jewel whom is a young teenager she feels separated from society. With her brother dying the day she was born and her grandad secluding himself from the family and refusing to speak, she believes she has no one to comfort and relate with her. Until one day a boy named John comes along and changes her life for the better. As they both aspire to have unusual jobs, astronaut and geologist, Jewel finally believes there is someone there to hold her up. Jewel altogether is a strong and mature young girl, and Crystal Chan has done amazing portraying this character. I fully recommend to anyone who wants to read a different style to what they usually choose. Will be definitely looking out for more Crystal Chan books :)
March 3, 2015
Inspired by nature, superstition, and tradition Bird by Crystal Chan is a stunning middle grade debut. In a small Iowan town Jewel is born on the day her brother dies. Now 12 years old for Jewel living in a home filled with silent grief and secrets is all she has ever known, until she finds a boy in her favorite climbing tree.
I thoroughly enjoyed this read, the writing style is so down-to-earth. Chan takes time to beautifully describe our connection with the natural world, a central theme in the novel. I was most impressed with the evolution of Jewel’s relationship with her grandpa as well as her friendship with the mysterious boy in the tree. Both developments had me smiling and offered levity when Jewel faced tough times. Sensitive to the real issues a sibling encounters when a family endures with the loss of a child the novel does possess a darker tone - addressing anger and the damage silence can do, but Chan also demonstrates how silence can heal so there is always a bit of light on the next page. Jewel’s voice remains strong and thoughtful from beginning to end, you gain a realistic sense of her growth as she questions loneliness, joy, and the traditional beliefs of her multiracial family. A poignant read about family, friends, and forgiveness. 4/5 stars.
I thoroughly enjoyed this read, the writing style is so down-to-earth. Chan takes time to beautifully describe our connection with the natural world, a central theme in the novel. I was most impressed with the evolution of Jewel’s relationship with her grandpa as well as her friendship with the mysterious boy in the tree. Both developments had me smiling and offered levity when Jewel faced tough times. Sensitive to the real issues a sibling encounters when a family endures with the loss of a child the novel does possess a darker tone - addressing anger and the damage silence can do, but Chan also demonstrates how silence can heal so there is always a bit of light on the next page. Jewel’s voice remains strong and thoughtful from beginning to end, you gain a realistic sense of her growth as she questions loneliness, joy, and the traditional beliefs of her multiracial family. A poignant read about family, friends, and forgiveness. 4/5 stars.
November 10, 2015
Loved the beauty of the language in this story!
Plot is filled with multiple themes of
friendship, family and death.
Plot is filled with multiple themes of
friendship, family and death.
August 11, 2016
For a while, a felt that I'm reading an ordinary scenario for an ordinary American movie.
It's got me depressed.
Slow, sad drama that finally solved all problems at the end.
Nothing special..
It's got me depressed.
Slow, sad drama that finally solved all problems at the end.
Nothing special..
January 15, 2018
This story is beautiful and oh how it makes my heart ache. Jewel has a wonderful spirit that shines through despite the grief that she feels and that surrounds and even strangles her family.
March 14, 2017
In den Sternenhimmel gucken, auf Bäume klettern und nach besonderen Steinen graben - in John hat Jewel einen Freund gefunden, mit dem all das noch viel mehr Spaß macht. Zusammen mit ihm ist sie sogar mutig genug, dem Bürgermeister die Meinung zu sagen und ihren Eltern Fragen zu stellen. Fragen über diesen einen Tag, an dem Jewel geboren wurde, ihr Bruder starb und sich das Leben ihrer Familie für immer verändert hat....
Erzählt aus der Sicht der zwölfjährigen Jewel hat diese Geschichte eine ganz magische Atmosphäre, die sogar leicht an Allendes 'Geisterhaus' erinnert. In einer ausgesprochen poetischen aber dennoch glaubhaften Sprache werden wir in die Gefühlswelt der Erzählerin mitgenommen. Hin und her gerissen zwischen einem stummen Großvater, einer äußerst rationalen Mutter und einem Vater, der fest an Geister, Zeichen und Flüche glaubt; Eltern, deren Ehe den Tod ihres ersten Sohnes noch nicht verkraftet hat, sucht Jewel Orientierung und Identität. Ein Buch, was mit jedem Kapitel besser wird.
Ich weiß nicht mehr, wie dieses Buch in mein Regal gelangte oder wer es mir empfohlen hat, aber die Ausdrucksform hat mich unglaublich berührt und ich hoffe, dass mein Stapel ungelesener Bücher noch mehr solcher Volltreffer hergibt.
Erzählt aus der Sicht der zwölfjährigen Jewel hat diese Geschichte eine ganz magische Atmosphäre, die sogar leicht an Allendes 'Geisterhaus' erinnert. In einer ausgesprochen poetischen aber dennoch glaubhaften Sprache werden wir in die Gefühlswelt der Erzählerin mitgenommen. Hin und her gerissen zwischen einem stummen Großvater, einer äußerst rationalen Mutter und einem Vater, der fest an Geister, Zeichen und Flüche glaubt; Eltern, deren Ehe den Tod ihres ersten Sohnes noch nicht verkraftet hat, sucht Jewel Orientierung und Identität. Ein Buch, was mit jedem Kapitel besser wird.
Ich weiß nicht mehr, wie dieses Buch in mein Regal gelangte oder wer es mir empfohlen hat, aber die Ausdrucksform hat mich unglaublich berührt und ich hoffe, dass mein Stapel ungelesener Bücher noch mehr solcher Volltreffer hergibt.
January 24, 2014
Jewel was born the day her brother John ‘Bird’ died. On that day, Jewel’s birthday, her Grandpa stopped talking and the whole family became quiet and sad … and they’ve stayed that way for the last 12 years.
Then, on her 12th birthday, Jewel climbs a tree and meets a boy called John. John is African-American, adopted by white parents and obsessed with becoming an astronaut. In Jewel, he finds a kindred spirit, not least of all because in their small Iowa town Jewel and John stick out;
“You’re not from around here.”
A little something tightened inside me, like it did every time I got this question, but I was used to it. Mostly. “I’m half-Jamaican, a quarter white, and a quarter Mexican,” I said.
“Wow,” John said. “I didn’t know people could turn out like that.”
“And I am from around here,” I said, making sure my voice carried over the crickets. “I was born in the house down the road.”
John said, “I’m not trying to insult you or anything. I’ve just never met someone like you.”
But Grandpa becomes convinced that John is a ‘duppy’ – a bad spirit from Jamaican legend. Jewel doesn’t believe such things, but she knows that sine John arrived secrets are coming out, and her sad, quiet family are starting to reflect on their past …
‘Bird’ is the debut middle-grade novel from American author Crystal Chan.
From the very first line, this book had me;
Grandpa stopped speaking the day he killed my brother, John.
And by the end of the first page, I was hooked and already a little bit teary;
… until Bird jumped off a cliff, the cliff at the edge of the tallgrass prairie, the cliff that dropped a good couple hundred feet to a dried-up riverbed below. Bird’s little blue bath towel was found not far from his body, snagged on a bush, the towel that served as wings.
This is a book about wounds that just won’t heal and what happens when loss and guilt get all mixed up in the here and now. It’s about the solace of friendship, and brings to mind that Frida Kahlo quote: “I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do.” Above all else, Crystal Chan’s ‘Bird’ is beautiful.
Jewel is a most intriguing young woman. She’s obsessed with rocks and hopes to be a geologist one day. She’s also struggling in her rural-Iowa town where she sticks out for her Jamaican/Caucasian/Mexican heritage. Crystal Chan herself is of Chinese/Polish descent, and offers up a real gem in the character of Jewel and her explorations into being mixed-race. This particular thread of the story really struck me, especially when you consider that the only other person who would have really understood what it’s like to be Jewel was her brother – John ‘Bird’. But he died, and so Jewel is navigating her childhood without the brother whose death stills casts a pall over the family.
I loved the friendship between John and Jewel – a lovely balance between the astronomer and the geologist, one so grounded and the other always looking up to the Heavens. I especially liked their ambitions because it means the book is peppered with some interesting astronomy/geology factoids (all of which Chan has gathered on her website).
In the second-half of the novel the focus shifts back to Bird’s death, and the loss, guilt and blame Jewel’s family have let broil beneath the surface for the last twelve years. I liked the fact that Chan gave the adults in Jewel’s life such complex, heartbreaking backstory … but these were events that happened when Jewel was just a baby and though she’s been living in their aftermath, by the second-half of the novel she’s not as proactive in her own story and turned into a bit of a bystander. And I did wonder if younger readers would pick up on the difficult nuances and revelations of the adult’s story – but at the same time I do appreciate that Chan lets her readers peek into such a complex, strained adult world.
This is a really beautiful book – but by no means an ‘easy’ book, especially for young readers going on this emotional journey with Jewel. But Chan’s writing is delicate and heartbreaking, John and Jewel are a fabulous pairing and I loved this book about the reverberations of the past being felt in the present.
4.5/5
Then, on her 12th birthday, Jewel climbs a tree and meets a boy called John. John is African-American, adopted by white parents and obsessed with becoming an astronaut. In Jewel, he finds a kindred spirit, not least of all because in their small Iowa town Jewel and John stick out;
“You’re not from around here.”
A little something tightened inside me, like it did every time I got this question, but I was used to it. Mostly. “I’m half-Jamaican, a quarter white, and a quarter Mexican,” I said.
“Wow,” John said. “I didn’t know people could turn out like that.”
“And I am from around here,” I said, making sure my voice carried over the crickets. “I was born in the house down the road.”
John said, “I’m not trying to insult you or anything. I’ve just never met someone like you.”
But Grandpa becomes convinced that John is a ‘duppy’ – a bad spirit from Jamaican legend. Jewel doesn’t believe such things, but she knows that sine John arrived secrets are coming out, and her sad, quiet family are starting to reflect on their past …
‘Bird’ is the debut middle-grade novel from American author Crystal Chan.
From the very first line, this book had me;
Grandpa stopped speaking the day he killed my brother, John.
And by the end of the first page, I was hooked and already a little bit teary;
… until Bird jumped off a cliff, the cliff at the edge of the tallgrass prairie, the cliff that dropped a good couple hundred feet to a dried-up riverbed below. Bird’s little blue bath towel was found not far from his body, snagged on a bush, the towel that served as wings.
This is a book about wounds that just won’t heal and what happens when loss and guilt get all mixed up in the here and now. It’s about the solace of friendship, and brings to mind that Frida Kahlo quote: “I used to think I was the strangest person in the world but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do.” Above all else, Crystal Chan’s ‘Bird’ is beautiful.
Jewel is a most intriguing young woman. She’s obsessed with rocks and hopes to be a geologist one day. She’s also struggling in her rural-Iowa town where she sticks out for her Jamaican/Caucasian/Mexican heritage. Crystal Chan herself is of Chinese/Polish descent, and offers up a real gem in the character of Jewel and her explorations into being mixed-race. This particular thread of the story really struck me, especially when you consider that the only other person who would have really understood what it’s like to be Jewel was her brother – John ‘Bird’. But he died, and so Jewel is navigating her childhood without the brother whose death stills casts a pall over the family.
I loved the friendship between John and Jewel – a lovely balance between the astronomer and the geologist, one so grounded and the other always looking up to the Heavens. I especially liked their ambitions because it means the book is peppered with some interesting astronomy/geology factoids (all of which Chan has gathered on her website).
In the second-half of the novel the focus shifts back to Bird’s death, and the loss, guilt and blame Jewel’s family have let broil beneath the surface for the last twelve years. I liked the fact that Chan gave the adults in Jewel’s life such complex, heartbreaking backstory … but these were events that happened when Jewel was just a baby and though she’s been living in their aftermath, by the second-half of the novel she’s not as proactive in her own story and turned into a bit of a bystander. And I did wonder if younger readers would pick up on the difficult nuances and revelations of the adult’s story – but at the same time I do appreciate that Chan lets her readers peek into such a complex, strained adult world.
This is a really beautiful book – but by no means an ‘easy’ book, especially for young readers going on this emotional journey with Jewel. But Chan’s writing is delicate and heartbreaking, John and Jewel are a fabulous pairing and I loved this book about the reverberations of the past being felt in the present.
4.5/5
January 21, 2024
For a young reader book, there was a lot of depth to the characters and plot. Jewel deals with several big life obstacles: her brother's death, her parents arguing, being mixed race in the middle of nowhere USA. John (Eugene) has challenges of his own: closed adoption, growing up black in an all white family. Both kids battle feelings of not belonging, feeling unwanted, feeling like they can't be good enough to make those they love happy. Kids today deal with hard challenges as well. I can appreciate any story, regardless of its intended audience, that has an intriguing plot and character development.
January 17, 2015
3,5 Sterne!
Inhalt:
Normalerweise freuen sich Kinder auf ihren Geburtstag. Die zwölfjährige Jewel nicht, denn als sie geboren wurde, ist ihr älterer Bruder von einer Klippe in den Tod gesprungen. Seither wird dieses Thema in der Familie gemieden und Jewel versucht ihr Bestes, um die Stimmung im Haus nicht zu verderben. Aber sie fühlt einsam, bis sie eines Tage einen Jungen kennenlernt. John bringt wieder Leben in die Familie, aber Jewel muss bald bitter feststellen, dass die Geister der Vergangenheit nicht ewig ruhen.
Meinung:
"Bird und ich und der Sommer, in dem ich fliegen lernte" gehört zu der Sorte Bücher, bei denen man gleich denkt, dass sie einen berühren werden. Viele Leserstimmen schwärmen von Crystal Chans Geschichte und daher hat es auch nicht lange gebraucht, um mich neugierig zu machen.
Mir hat das Buch bis zu einem gewissen Punkt auch richtig gut gefallen. Das liegt unter anderem an dem sehr schönen Stil der Autorin. Chan besitzt die Gabe, ihre geschriebenen Worte im Zusammenhang sehr poetisch klingen zu lassen. Hinter jedem Satz steckt viel Bedeutung und das habe ich direkt gemerkt. Nicht verwunderlich, dass ihr mit der richtigen Einfühlsamkeit und gewählten Worte die Charaktere ebenfalls sehr gelungen sind.
Allen voran Jewel, die ich direkt ins Herz geschlossen habe. Aber sie hatte es auch nicht schwer, mich rumzukriegen, weil man direkt mitbekommt, in welcher Zwickmühle das junge Mädchen steckt. Ihr Geburtstag ist gleichzeitig der Todestag ihres Bruders. Daher ist dieser Tag nicht wirklich ein freudiges Ereignis in der Familie. Ihr Opa ist seit diesem schrecklichen Ereignis stumm, weil er sich die Schuld an dem Tod seines Enkels gibt. Zudem sind Jewels Eltern komplette Gegensätze. Während ihre Mutter sehr pragmatisch und bodenständig ist, hält ihr Vater sehr viel von spirituellen Dingen. Das sorgt des Öfteren für Unruhe im Haus. Jewel ist daher sehr bemüht, eine gute Tochter zu sein. Sie möchte um jeden Preis ihre Eltern stolz machen, aber sie hadert sehr oft mit sich, weil sie nicht glaubt, dass sie das erreicht. Ich hatte direkt Mitleid mit ihr, weil ich ihr Bemühen so sehr gesehen habe. Dann taucht ein fremder Junge auf, der auch noch ausgerechnet den gleichen Namen ihres Bruders trägt, und bringt sich spielend in Jewels Leben ein. Gleichzeitig reißt sein Auftauchen alte Wunden auf. Mir hat die Freundschaft der beiden sehr gefallen und nachdem John Zeit mit Jewel verbringt, spürt man auch als Leser, in welche Richtung die Autorin mit ihrer Geschichte gehen will.
Dann passieren aber im letzten Drittel des Buches Dinge, die ich überhaupt nicht mochte und teilweise auch nicht ganz nachvollziehen konnte. Das Verhalten der Eltern gegenüber Jewel ist zeitweise einfach zu krass, was mich wiederum fragen lässt, warum Jewel das überhaupt alles so mit sich machen lässt, ohne mal gehörig vor Wut zu explodieren. Das war für mich ein wenig zu befremdlich und wirkte nicht ganz so authentisch. Etwas überzogen empfand ich auch die spirituelle Ader des Vaters. Für mich einfach zu viel Hokuspokus und nicht mein Fall. Hingegen die Entwicklung der Beziehung zwischen Opa und Enkelin war großartig und konnte mich auch emotional richtig packen. Der Ausgang der Geschichte war ebenfalls stimmig und konnte mich dann etwas mit den "Unstimmigkeiten" versöhnen.
Fazit:
"Bird und ich und der Sommer, in dem ich fliegen lernte" hat mir bis zu einem gewissen Punkt richtig gut gefallen. Sowohl Schreibstil, als auch Charaktere sind authentisch und besonders Protagonistin Jewel habe ich schnell ins Herz geschlossen. Im letzten Drittel geschehen aber Dinge, die sich für mich irgendwie falsch und nicht richtig angefühlt haben, sodass ich mich schon das eine oder andere Mal über das Verhalten der Charaktere wundern musste. Nichtsdestotrotz konnte mich das Ende aber positiv stimmen.
Inhalt:
Normalerweise freuen sich Kinder auf ihren Geburtstag. Die zwölfjährige Jewel nicht, denn als sie geboren wurde, ist ihr älterer Bruder von einer Klippe in den Tod gesprungen. Seither wird dieses Thema in der Familie gemieden und Jewel versucht ihr Bestes, um die Stimmung im Haus nicht zu verderben. Aber sie fühlt einsam, bis sie eines Tage einen Jungen kennenlernt. John bringt wieder Leben in die Familie, aber Jewel muss bald bitter feststellen, dass die Geister der Vergangenheit nicht ewig ruhen.
Meinung:
"Bird und ich und der Sommer, in dem ich fliegen lernte" gehört zu der Sorte Bücher, bei denen man gleich denkt, dass sie einen berühren werden. Viele Leserstimmen schwärmen von Crystal Chans Geschichte und daher hat es auch nicht lange gebraucht, um mich neugierig zu machen.
Mir hat das Buch bis zu einem gewissen Punkt auch richtig gut gefallen. Das liegt unter anderem an dem sehr schönen Stil der Autorin. Chan besitzt die Gabe, ihre geschriebenen Worte im Zusammenhang sehr poetisch klingen zu lassen. Hinter jedem Satz steckt viel Bedeutung und das habe ich direkt gemerkt. Nicht verwunderlich, dass ihr mit der richtigen Einfühlsamkeit und gewählten Worte die Charaktere ebenfalls sehr gelungen sind.
Allen voran Jewel, die ich direkt ins Herz geschlossen habe. Aber sie hatte es auch nicht schwer, mich rumzukriegen, weil man direkt mitbekommt, in welcher Zwickmühle das junge Mädchen steckt. Ihr Geburtstag ist gleichzeitig der Todestag ihres Bruders. Daher ist dieser Tag nicht wirklich ein freudiges Ereignis in der Familie. Ihr Opa ist seit diesem schrecklichen Ereignis stumm, weil er sich die Schuld an dem Tod seines Enkels gibt. Zudem sind Jewels Eltern komplette Gegensätze. Während ihre Mutter sehr pragmatisch und bodenständig ist, hält ihr Vater sehr viel von spirituellen Dingen. Das sorgt des Öfteren für Unruhe im Haus. Jewel ist daher sehr bemüht, eine gute Tochter zu sein. Sie möchte um jeden Preis ihre Eltern stolz machen, aber sie hadert sehr oft mit sich, weil sie nicht glaubt, dass sie das erreicht. Ich hatte direkt Mitleid mit ihr, weil ich ihr Bemühen so sehr gesehen habe. Dann taucht ein fremder Junge auf, der auch noch ausgerechnet den gleichen Namen ihres Bruders trägt, und bringt sich spielend in Jewels Leben ein. Gleichzeitig reißt sein Auftauchen alte Wunden auf. Mir hat die Freundschaft der beiden sehr gefallen und nachdem John Zeit mit Jewel verbringt, spürt man auch als Leser, in welche Richtung die Autorin mit ihrer Geschichte gehen will.
Dann passieren aber im letzten Drittel des Buches Dinge, die ich überhaupt nicht mochte und teilweise auch nicht ganz nachvollziehen konnte. Das Verhalten der Eltern gegenüber Jewel ist zeitweise einfach zu krass, was mich wiederum fragen lässt, warum Jewel das überhaupt alles so mit sich machen lässt, ohne mal gehörig vor Wut zu explodieren. Das war für mich ein wenig zu befremdlich und wirkte nicht ganz so authentisch. Etwas überzogen empfand ich auch die spirituelle Ader des Vaters. Für mich einfach zu viel Hokuspokus und nicht mein Fall. Hingegen die Entwicklung der Beziehung zwischen Opa und Enkelin war großartig und konnte mich auch emotional richtig packen. Der Ausgang der Geschichte war ebenfalls stimmig und konnte mich dann etwas mit den "Unstimmigkeiten" versöhnen.
Fazit:
"Bird und ich und der Sommer, in dem ich fliegen lernte" hat mir bis zu einem gewissen Punkt richtig gut gefallen. Sowohl Schreibstil, als auch Charaktere sind authentisch und besonders Protagonistin Jewel habe ich schnell ins Herz geschlossen. Im letzten Drittel geschehen aber Dinge, die sich für mich irgendwie falsch und nicht richtig angefühlt haben, sodass ich mich schon das eine oder andere Mal über das Verhalten der Charaktere wundern musste. Nichtsdestotrotz konnte mich das Ende aber positiv stimmen.
January 31, 2014
I feel like I just received a warm, caring hug. It’s not something that will protect or shield me from the pitfalls of life, but it is a hug that tells me that I’m never alone.
Title: Bird
Author: Crystal Chan
Genre: Realistic Fiction (Coming of Age)
Reviewer: C
Rating: 5/5 stars
Summary: On the day Jewel was born, her brother Bird died. Ever since that day, Jewel’s life has been filled with silence and unspoken secrets about the past. Ignored by her parents and a grandfather who has not spoken a single word since Bird’s death, Jewel escapes her loneliness by secretly going to the cliff, the cliff where her brother jumped off and believed he could fly. However, Jewel’s life slowly begins to change after she meets a mysterious boy, an event that begins to bring up questions and secrets of the past to the surface.
Yeah, it sort of sounds like your typical YA novel (“girl meets boy who changes her life.”) But wait, don’t leave! This book is, in fact, not typical at all; Bird is a beautiful, heartfelt read filled with easy, rhythmic prose and characters that are painfully real.
The novel opens on the day of Jewel’s 12th birthday, and readers are instantly introduced to her lonely and yet hopeful voice; Chan fills Jewel’s narration with lovely prose that will tug at your heart. The book has a small-town, secluded atmosphere that somehow is both gratifying in its quietness and calmness, and yet makes you understand the loneliness Jewel feels and the subsequent want she has for a life filled with smiles instead of silence. This is further enhanced by the wonderful cast of characters; the deeper the reader delves into the novel, the more and more layers of the characters are revealed. I got frustrated and angry at characters that I loved, surprised by characters that I was previously wary of…each character had depth as if they were truly living and breathing people. I never completely disliked any of the characters; they had faults that, if hard to accept, were realistic. And that’s life, if you think about it: no one is like-able (or un-likeable) a 100% of the time.
Jewel is an understandable main character that I hold close to my heart. Conveyed with prose that is just so beautiful and yet simple, Jewel’s emotions clearly reach through the pages and wrap themselves around the reader. I connected with Jewel so well that I understood her joy at making a new friend, and her sadness at her discoveries that yet another thing was being kept from her.
…Somehow, I’m making it sound like this book is some tragic, depressing piece of work. On the contrary, although this novel is deep and has the premise of dealing with death, there is also something uplifting about it. It does have its instances of sadness and loneliness and silence, but it has its moments of that instantaneous, overflowing happiness and joy too. There were moments that just made me smile and feel all warm inside, like I’d just been wrapped in a fluffy, warm blanket on a cold winter day. And that is the great thing about this book: in addition to its complex characters and relationships and heart-felt conflicts, it gives a sense of hope for the good in the future despite the bad that may have come before.
(feel free to check out the original review at http://cakeworm.tumblr.com/post/71182...)
Title: Bird
Author: Crystal Chan
Genre: Realistic Fiction (Coming of Age)
Reviewer: C
Rating: 5/5 stars
Summary: On the day Jewel was born, her brother Bird died. Ever since that day, Jewel’s life has been filled with silence and unspoken secrets about the past. Ignored by her parents and a grandfather who has not spoken a single word since Bird’s death, Jewel escapes her loneliness by secretly going to the cliff, the cliff where her brother jumped off and believed he could fly. However, Jewel’s life slowly begins to change after she meets a mysterious boy, an event that begins to bring up questions and secrets of the past to the surface.
Yeah, it sort of sounds like your typical YA novel (“girl meets boy who changes her life.”) But wait, don’t leave! This book is, in fact, not typical at all; Bird is a beautiful, heartfelt read filled with easy, rhythmic prose and characters that are painfully real.
The novel opens on the day of Jewel’s 12th birthday, and readers are instantly introduced to her lonely and yet hopeful voice; Chan fills Jewel’s narration with lovely prose that will tug at your heart. The book has a small-town, secluded atmosphere that somehow is both gratifying in its quietness and calmness, and yet makes you understand the loneliness Jewel feels and the subsequent want she has for a life filled with smiles instead of silence. This is further enhanced by the wonderful cast of characters; the deeper the reader delves into the novel, the more and more layers of the characters are revealed. I got frustrated and angry at characters that I loved, surprised by characters that I was previously wary of…each character had depth as if they were truly living and breathing people. I never completely disliked any of the characters; they had faults that, if hard to accept, were realistic. And that’s life, if you think about it: no one is like-able (or un-likeable) a 100% of the time.
Jewel is an understandable main character that I hold close to my heart. Conveyed with prose that is just so beautiful and yet simple, Jewel’s emotions clearly reach through the pages and wrap themselves around the reader. I connected with Jewel so well that I understood her joy at making a new friend, and her sadness at her discoveries that yet another thing was being kept from her.
…Somehow, I’m making it sound like this book is some tragic, depressing piece of work. On the contrary, although this novel is deep and has the premise of dealing with death, there is also something uplifting about it. It does have its instances of sadness and loneliness and silence, but it has its moments of that instantaneous, overflowing happiness and joy too. There were moments that just made me smile and feel all warm inside, like I’d just been wrapped in a fluffy, warm blanket on a cold winter day. And that is the great thing about this book: in addition to its complex characters and relationships and heart-felt conflicts, it gives a sense of hope for the good in the future despite the bad that may have come before.
(feel free to check out the original review at http://cakeworm.tumblr.com/post/71182...)
February 5, 2014
This review appears on Happy Indulgence. Check it out for more reviews!
Bird swooped in, gripped my heart and made it soar with its poignant, heart breaking story rippling with grief, and ending with hope.
Jewel’s story is aching with heart break and lost moments, as her family seem to be a broken shell. She never knew her brother Bird, but feels his presence in everything around her – her family’s grief, her grandpa’s silence and anger, and her private place at the cliff. She’s an unlucky child who was born on the day her 5 year old brother tried to fly off the cliff and lives as a shadow in his former footsteps. All she’s known her whole life is a mum who is perpetually depressed, a father who believes in bad luck and duppies (spirits who bring bad luck) and a grandpa who has never spoken a word.
Delivered through beautiful, lyrical writing that just flows off the page, Bird captures the youth and bewilderment of a 12 year old girl in a grieving family. Jewel is just beginning to understand her struggling identity and family’s flaws, so when she meets John, a boy who shares Bird’s namesake, she finds someone who can finally understand her.
I didn’t trust myself to speak. How come my parents, who I’ve known all my life, didn’t understand why I come to this place, but John, who I met just a couple days ago, did? How can trying to make someone understand take more than a lifetime, and someone else less than an instant?
The characters are all flawed but in a realistic way, with Jewel’s family full of quirks and superstition, John coasting between being unlikable and likable, and Jewel herself both loving and hating her family. Seeing the characters slowly evolve over the course of the book was an absolute delight, as Jewel finally learns who she can trust and finds an unlikely friend in her grandpa. I’m still ambivalent about John, who would say disrespectful things about her family here and there, but then again, was a real friend to Jewel.
I’ve never read a book that featured Jamaican superstitions and traditions which was such an unusual, magical world for me. Duppies, superstitious charms and curses all have a play in the story along with reggae music and lots of rice.
The sky was never so big. I felt like an ant making my way over the dark earth as I ran on the finely ground gravel road, up the little swelling hill, and then back down it on the other side.
In a strange, uplifting turn of events, the book ends on a high note that makes the journey worth it. Bird is a stunning debut about a lost girl in a grieving family transforming into one who finally finds her place and makes peace. The emotion of the novel is felt through its every word, it’s beauty witnessed in its prose, and the growth of its characters, death defying.
I thoroughly enjoyed the journey that Bird took me on, and I think you will too.
Thank you to Text Publishing for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.
Bird swooped in, gripped my heart and made it soar with its poignant, heart breaking story rippling with grief, and ending with hope.
Jewel’s story is aching with heart break and lost moments, as her family seem to be a broken shell. She never knew her brother Bird, but feels his presence in everything around her – her family’s grief, her grandpa’s silence and anger, and her private place at the cliff. She’s an unlucky child who was born on the day her 5 year old brother tried to fly off the cliff and lives as a shadow in his former footsteps. All she’s known her whole life is a mum who is perpetually depressed, a father who believes in bad luck and duppies (spirits who bring bad luck) and a grandpa who has never spoken a word.
Delivered through beautiful, lyrical writing that just flows off the page, Bird captures the youth and bewilderment of a 12 year old girl in a grieving family. Jewel is just beginning to understand her struggling identity and family’s flaws, so when she meets John, a boy who shares Bird’s namesake, she finds someone who can finally understand her.
I didn’t trust myself to speak. How come my parents, who I’ve known all my life, didn’t understand why I come to this place, but John, who I met just a couple days ago, did? How can trying to make someone understand take more than a lifetime, and someone else less than an instant?
The characters are all flawed but in a realistic way, with Jewel’s family full of quirks and superstition, John coasting between being unlikable and likable, and Jewel herself both loving and hating her family. Seeing the characters slowly evolve over the course of the book was an absolute delight, as Jewel finally learns who she can trust and finds an unlikely friend in her grandpa. I’m still ambivalent about John, who would say disrespectful things about her family here and there, but then again, was a real friend to Jewel.
I’ve never read a book that featured Jamaican superstitions and traditions which was such an unusual, magical world for me. Duppies, superstitious charms and curses all have a play in the story along with reggae music and lots of rice.
The sky was never so big. I felt like an ant making my way over the dark earth as I ran on the finely ground gravel road, up the little swelling hill, and then back down it on the other side.
In a strange, uplifting turn of events, the book ends on a high note that makes the journey worth it. Bird is a stunning debut about a lost girl in a grieving family transforming into one who finally finds her place and makes peace. The emotion of the novel is felt through its every word, it’s beauty witnessed in its prose, and the growth of its characters, death defying.
I thoroughly enjoyed the journey that Bird took me on, and I think you will too.
Thank you to Text Publishing for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review.
December 17, 2014
Bird, this novel that hit me hard but left me the pieces to put myself back together was more than I expected when I opened the pages and I started to read about Jewel and her family. She was born the night her five-year old brother decided to fly off the boulder because his name was Bird and he had dreams of flying. Imagine celebrating your birthday every year while your parents are grieving over the loss of a child, it’s really not much of a celebration. What happened on the day of her birth, Jewel will soon find out but her world is consumed right now with a grandfather who does not speak, two parents, a battle at home about superstitious duppies and her new friend John. Jewel wishes she knew why her grandfather doesn’t speak but no one wants to talk about it. His constant vigil for the duppies and his antics for resistance had me questioning grandpa state of mind. John, Jewel’s new friend from down the road, proves to be a good outlet for her. She is able to relax and the two of them tell stories and some secrets they both held deep inside. It seemed almost too perfect and it was, for things took a nosedive and I was left with my mouth hanging open. What just happened, really?!? Crystal Chan provided an excellent conclusion, one that provided hope, understanding, and affection.
It was an impressive book from the beginning. Jewel was kept in the dark about her brother and about why her grandfather did not speak. Her parents do not talk to her that much and when she asked them questions, those questions get sidelined. Crystal did an excellent job with the pace of the book; there was never a lull in the book or a time where there was too much dialog or description. Grandpa was an interesting character, without having spoken any words, Crystal ability to describe his actions and his mannerism you understand his position in life and how he relates to the family. Truly an enjoyable read.
It was an impressive book from the beginning. Jewel was kept in the dark about her brother and about why her grandfather did not speak. Her parents do not talk to her that much and when she asked them questions, those questions get sidelined. Crystal did an excellent job with the pace of the book; there was never a lull in the book or a time where there was too much dialog or description. Grandpa was an interesting character, without having spoken any words, Crystal ability to describe his actions and his mannerism you understand his position in life and how he relates to the family. Truly an enjoyable read.
February 14, 2014
When Bird died, his sister Jewel was born. Her grandfather stopped speaking and the family were left grieving, grief that never seemed to be coming to an end. Jewel’s parents blamed Grandpa for Bird’s death. This stemmed from Bird’s real name being John, but Grandpa said he looked more like a Bird. Bird took himself to the cliff one day, to see if he could really fly. He couldn’t.
One aspect of this book that really grabbed me was Crystal Chan’s writing. Even from the first sentence, I was utterly gripped. It didn’t take me much longer to fall in love with Jewel. She’s a fantastic character. She was lonely, yearning for love from her parents, but she was also strong too. I loved being inside her mind and experiencing her thoughts. She was often hopeful and always thought such beautiful things. I loved that all of Crystal Chan’s characters were flawed. It was realistic, especially because the family had experienced such tragedy.
Bird is a mysterious read. It kept me turning the pages, because I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out. I didn’t know if her new friendship could be trusted. I was intrigued by the duppies (I’ll leave it for you to learn about them), I loved how the Jamaican culture was explored. All in all, it just had such a wonderful plot and an engaging setting. I found it hard to put it down, but I made sure I did, so I could have a moment to reflect.
Bird is a brilliant debut novel. I can’t wait to read what Crystal Chan writes next, because if she writes books this beautiful again, I’ve certainly found a new favourite author!
One aspect of this book that really grabbed me was Crystal Chan’s writing. Even from the first sentence, I was utterly gripped. It didn’t take me much longer to fall in love with Jewel. She’s a fantastic character. She was lonely, yearning for love from her parents, but she was also strong too. I loved being inside her mind and experiencing her thoughts. She was often hopeful and always thought such beautiful things. I loved that all of Crystal Chan’s characters were flawed. It was realistic, especially because the family had experienced such tragedy.
Bird is a mysterious read. It kept me turning the pages, because I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out. I didn’t know if her new friendship could be trusted. I was intrigued by the duppies (I’ll leave it for you to learn about them), I loved how the Jamaican culture was explored. All in all, it just had such a wonderful plot and an engaging setting. I found it hard to put it down, but I made sure I did, so I could have a moment to reflect.
Bird is a brilliant debut novel. I can’t wait to read what Crystal Chan writes next, because if she writes books this beautiful again, I’ve certainly found a new favourite author!
February 17, 2014
I won this book through goodreads first-reads and I loved it. It's really aimed at young teenagers I would say, but the simplicity in the writing made it such a relaxing book that I was immediately drawn in and felt calm just sitting down to read. The writing is beautiful.
The story's lovely, especially the friendship that develops between Jewel and the boy that she meets. For me the best thing about this book were their interactions and their growing relationship. Two very clever children sharing their interests, problems, secrets, and just trying to be children.
Crystal handles the complex family dynamics well, I honestly couldn't wait to pick the book up whenever I could.
I wouldn't hesitate to read any other books that Crystal writes.
The story's lovely, especially the friendship that develops between Jewel and the boy that she meets. For me the best thing about this book were their interactions and their growing relationship. Two very clever children sharing their interests, problems, secrets, and just trying to be children.
Crystal handles the complex family dynamics well, I honestly couldn't wait to pick the book up whenever I could.
I wouldn't hesitate to read any other books that Crystal writes.
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