May Bird, Warrior Princess

May Bird #3

by Jodi Lynn Anderson

At Hog Wallow Middle School, May Ellen Bird was always slightly invisible. Then she went on a long trip to the land of the dead, where ghost towns glowed blue in the dark dusk and spooky specters dwelled in cities on the Dead Sea.

Back on Earth at last, May and her hairless cat, Somber Kitty, are now famous, their faces plastered across souvenirs and sportswear that read "May Bird Went to the Land of the Dead and All She Brought Me Was This Lousy T-Shirt." But, finally in the spotlight, May feels more than ever that she doesn't belong. Every night she sits by her bedroom window, gazing at the sky and dreaming of another place, wishing -- despite herself -- to be back among the ghosts.

And then one night she gets her heart's desire in a way she would never have wished for. Only the Ever After isn't anything like the world May left behind three years ago. The spirits have vanished, and the towns -- once full of every manner of things that go bump in the night -- are deserted. Evil Bo Cleevil has made the Ever After as cold as his own frigid soul, and put up a bunch of tacky malls to boot.

Now, with her friends missing and enemies all around her, May must find her way to the edge of the universe, where night swallows the stars, where allies are few and often have bad breath, where endings can also be beginnings, and where the truest hero lurks in the unlikeliest of souls. But Bo Cleevil's got one last trick up his sleeve -- one that no one on Earth is ready for.

With the worlds of the living and the dead in the balance, will May's courage fail her one last time? Or will she finally become the warrior she was always meant to be?

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Adventure, Paranormal, Fiction, Childrens

256 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 2007

About the author

I write strange and mythical stories about young people.

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my good God. I remember buying May Bird and the Ever After when I was 11. I loved it to tears (literally) and lent to my two best friends at the time, in succession, and we were all hooked. Being in the frenzy that I was, I found May Bird Among the Stars soon after and adored it just as much as I did the fist. The ending seemed so subtle, so complete in it's questions and answers left unsolved, that I didn't question my inner self telling me that it was just a two book sort of deal. So imagine my surprise when, years later I discover that this whole time, there was a goddamn THIRD BOOK! I was in shock, then began a frantic search for it. Seeing as how it had been out for some time, it was never in any of the sections I look in at book stores. But I happened upon it online, bought it, read it, and promptly died and went to the Ever After. I LOVED this book! I thought Among the Stars was good? No. This book defines closure. There was opening for imagination, there was heart wrenching tears, shock, surprise, God don't even get me started on Pumpkin. It was well worth the wait, no matter how much I wish I could have read it sooner.

[Amanda Lewandowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a strange little book series that I “pre-read” to see if it was ok for my sensitive daughter. It’s definitely not, but that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it. It’s quite morbid, but the characters were interesting, and the friendships were beautiful, so I read the second two books just to see how it would end. I definitely don’t recommend this to young children, but it would probably be enjoyable for teens or young adults (or even older ones, like me ;)

[Clara · Rating 5 out of 5]

man i cant believe this is the end... when ever you finish a series it feels like your losing your babies! (characters) (yes a cassjaytuck reference) but i"m serious!! its just awful! but i did love the books and its been a magical journey that i loved being part of.
i loved seeing may abit older then she was in the first book, and it was her birthday, and then she and somber kitty died and......... oops.
ya there are spoilers.....
oh i hated pumpkins reaction.... it was sad for him, a girl he knew for a long time dead.
but the whole story played out very nicely and then pumpkin became a star........ again oops.
i cried so bad when pumpkin became a star but its what he had to do.
i loved reading the series and sad to see it stop but hey, they say what you love you have to set free or something like that right?

[Breana · Rating 5 out of 5]

As good as the other two. Its was great that May got to go back to the other world but i kinda thought Pumpkin should had talked to her without the dude.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Somber Kitty. He is an ugly, loyal, courageous cat. May Bird has to discover who she is. Pumpkin is a very cute sounding ghost. Have fun!

[Blue Ghost · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I came back to reread and finish this trilogy after 15+ years, and I'm glad I did—it's the perfect blend of eerie and goofy levity. Anderson approaches the mundane with a wit similar to Douglas Adams: goblins on meditation retreats and zombies invading strip malls.

The characters are one of this trilogy's strengths, even if some of them can be a bit too silly at times for my adult taste. Anderson managed to write a heroine, May Bird, who doesn't fit in, without fitting her into the "main character is more unique than everyone else" cliché. This was able to work because over the course of the trilogy May is between the ages of 10-13, and prepubescence is an uncomfortable, awkward stage for everybody.

As the story approaches its climax, we learn why the Big Bad, Bo Cleevil, does what he does, and it's a simple and relatable—though not justifiable—reason. The driving force of Cleevil's actions was the same driving force for a lot of May's, which is the same for a lot of mine. The "reason why" doesn't make his evil actions make sense—there isn't any sense in genuine evil—but it does show how different people in similar circumstances can be lead to do, think and feel very different things.

Some inconsistencies (e.g. explicitly stating the moon is only visible in one part of the realm, then pages later mentioning the moon shining over an entirely different area) and grammatical errors (every books got 'em, and I only counted 2 in this edition) are what kept it from a higher rating.

[Nadxeli · Rating 4 out of 5]

(1.75 enjoyment rating + 2.25 quality rating = 4.00 total)
format: physical book

I enjoyed finishing this trilogy I remember starting in my childhood after one of those glorious days at the school book fair. I do feel like the first and second were better. The first held so many memories for me and was truly just fun and wholesome with a good sprinkling of creepy ghosts. The second had good depth. The third had all those elements but for some reason (may be because I've been in a bit of a slump this year) it didn't impact me as much as those first two. Still, it was a wonderful close to the series!

We follow May Bird after some time has passed since her return to Earth. She still thinks about her ghost friends and her prophecy of saving the Ever After from Evil BoCleeville but is also trying to rebuild her life into some form of normalcy. She also experiences the after effects of having gone "missing" and we get to see how that changes the dynamic between her and her mom.

I was happy to revisit the Ever After, after all it is the fun world that's been created for this series, and see what May's ghost friends have been up to since her departure. Overall, I'm satisfied with this series and its closure. The whole serious is genuinely just a lot of fun (:

[Devon Elmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love these books, I’ve read the first in the series multiple times, and they are just fantastic. However, I thought the build up of the first two books was so good, and the third book wasn’t as good as the first two.
I did cry my eyes out though when I finished the series, because they were my favorites growing up.

[Angelasdawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent books, perfect for a younger reader. I'm happy I read these when I was in middle school, parts really stuck with me.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid ending to this great trilogy! May is back in the Ever After, reunited with her ghostly friends, and hunted and hounded by her enemies once again. The plot moves quickly with tons of quirky and hilarious scenes. My favorite characters are back with the silly dialogue and camaraderie that warms my heart!

May is definitely a winsome character. She wants so badly to be "good", to be brave, to be what her friends need her to be; but she also has this wild nature that leaves her fighting against herself. She often wishes that she could just fit in, but finally comes to accept that she was born to shine, born to be a warrior.

May and her friends crack me up! The whole ghostly crew is so much fun and I love their snappy dialogue and little heart-felt moments when they support and encourage each other. I'm so emotionally attached to all these characters now!

I still don't really like the ghostly Halloween-type setting. The world building is VERY good, with lots of interesting details and excellent descriptions. But that kind of setting just doesn't appeal to me with all the cobwebs and ghouls and slime. I loved the magical bits though, and the tour of the universe with stargazing being prominent in the plot!

I loved the ending! It was the perfect conclusion to this last book! The fact that it was Pumpkin who ultimately saves the world, and NOT May, was absolutely perfect! After all her angst about saving the world and being the warrior who rescues the cosmos, it was little cowardly Pumpkin, the house ghost who she told to go hide, who sacrifices it all and saves the world. Simply brilliant on so many levels! First of all, it was surprising that the hero does nothing heroic at the last. Secondly, it shows that the small one, the weak one, the cowardly one CAN be the hero! Thirdly, it worked because Bo Cleevil never expected a threat from that direction. Such great writing, especially since the mystery around the Bridge of Souls was built up through the whole book. I love this whole trilogy!

[EAL · Rating 2 out of 5]

What happened to the May Bird series? Book one was fantastic. Book two, so bad that I came into this book without any hope. Well, at least that left me with very little room for further disappointment. It was shorter than the other books, less complex, and completely devoid of the sense of wonder that permeated throughout book one. The humor was also worse. But all of that I expected. What I was not prepared for:

-the forced romantic tension between Lucius and May. Could that have been handled any less clumsily?

-the final battle. Completely anticlimatic, and the reveal of Bo Cleevil not having a real face was utterly cliche.

-the ending. Characters. Should. Not. Come. Back. To. Life. Reincarnation I am fine with, but if a dead character comes back without any issues, then I start having serious problems. I have never, ever seen deus ex machina used in such a way.

Good points? The appearance of Legume was surprising in a good way. And there was closure. But aside from that...each successive book has been worse.

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never been so sad to see someone live to the end of their book.

This last in the May Bird series was a special treat, where May had a little more gumption, and isn't just ducking behind corners all the time. She was special from the beginning, just like any little girl with half of an imagination. In this installment, though, she was far more likeable than the first two books.

I would have wished for more conclusion. The deus ex machina at the end was a little too much, and I think it was only added because it is a children's book. Senseless, if you ask me, because the whole series is built around the facts of life and death. Either way, she seemed to just kind of go back to her flightly fearful ways at the end, even after the dreadful concluding battle. I would have wished for her to take more of a part in rebuilding the Ever After. But instead she just slunk away to do chores, and then went home.

As far as conclusions go, it was lackluster, but for someone looking for an easy, entertaining read, this would work.

[jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so awesome, too! I can't believe I'm just now remembering that I read it! This really surprised me because of the thing that happened at the beginning. Whoa did not see that coming!(Maybe I should have, though) I don't want to give it away, so that is why I am keeping it secret, though you'd find out soon enough if you read it.

[Kassie K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

May's third book was not as good as the first two. The characters were clear, but I sometimes got confused with the settings. I like May better when she's 10, not 13. She seemed braver at age 10. But, besides that, it was a pretty good book. The end was especially exciting.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised there was another book created but I'm glad there was. This book closed a lot of gaps left open in the second book and Somber Kitty becomes a Daddy to ghost kitties...work that one out in your head.

[Isabella · Rating 5 out of 5]

may bird was the very first big kid series i ever read when i was in 5th grade. it is the best kid series in my opinion! this is the last installment of the series when little may bird is all grown up! but she still has some ever after business to take care of!

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book! There was only one thing that I did not like it was towards the end and involved a rocket. Other than that five stars pumpkin is a huge hero. Kitty meets someone new. And the crew is back pumpkin may Fabbio Beatrice.

[Condwiramurs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was excellently written, but I don't like how May Bird got snappish with Pumpkin around the end, or the fact that he died. :(

[Melissa Bowling · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the stars. ❤️😭 Almost better reading this series as an adult than when I was a kid.

[Celia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't know this book existed until I did a book report on the first. I think the story could have comfortably ended after the second book. I didn't particularly enjoy the ending of this book

[Lea Brinkman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't judge a book by its title, I guess. The title of the final book in the May Bird series is a bit cringe, but the inside does not match. In fact, the chapters always have clever titles, usually something intriguing or ironic. I am not sure why the author agreed to the title "warrior princess" in the first place, especially given that she clearly has a knack for good titles. (Not to mention that May is usually referred to as a "warrior queen".)

This entire series should be a staple of the "charming horror" genre. I am honestly surprised by how little recognition it has gotten. Charming horror is something that is rarely executed this smoothly in literary form. Although there are many great examples in film, not many books have pulled this off quite so effortlessly because the charm of this genre often comes in the little details of the world and the characters, the kind of details you don't want to give too much narrative attention to lest they negate the terror. Whereas the plot gets to focus on the horror, the smaller details provide the charm. In film this can be things played out in the background or small details in the corner of the screen. Unfortunately, in literature it is not so easy to do too many things at once.

Like always, Anderson finds the perfect balance, providing just the right amount of both. The threat of the monsters is never minimized because the author doesn't let the lighter elements of her story take over.

And yet, although the story was good and the world building top tier, I think I was expecting more...

My journey with this book has been an interesting one. When I was about 11 I was half way through the second book when my parents intervened. Although my parents had never cared about what I chose to read before, I had recommended the series to a friend who had very strict parents, and apparently they had complained. Long story short, I was told I wasn't allowed to keep reading.

Thus, I have had years of my life to wonder whether May Bird made it back to the world of the living. One might say that the ending of this series was one of the great mysteries of my childhood.

I came back as an adult to see how it ends.

Anderson did it all. She created a spooky thrilling world, a mostly relatable protagonist with two great side kicks, and a dark lord to strike fear into the hearts of kids. And yet at the end of the day it falls short. Maybe it would have been different if it hadn't taken me years to get here. But in the end it just felt too easy. All this build up, and then the battle ends in a flash.

Nevertheless, I will always respect Anderson's style. The first book in this series is the only book that ever kept me awake at night as a kid, not because I was reading (I stayed up late reading a lot), but because I was terrified of what would come next.

In the world of children's literature, nothing is ever as scary as it seems. But I would have liked it to have been. The big boss that loomed over May (and me) for so long should have been scarier when she finally met him face to face.

[Enchanted · Rating 5 out of 5]

May Bird Warrior Princess is the last of this pretty effin awesome trilogy.


Three Years later...

May after escaping the Ever After with her melancholy Kitty feels oddly out of place back home pretending to be a girl she will never be, and unable to talk about her adventure without looks of amusement or worry from her listeners. In fact May secretly wants to return to her real friends back in the after life.
With Ever After slowly being over ruled by Dark Spirits and a Spirit known as Bo Cleevil ruling the land and preparing for the dead to walk the earth May is being sent messages and subconsciously she can feel the Ever After calling for her help, and eventually she finds herself floating in Ever After with Kitty one more time to finish what she was to afraid to do as her ten year old self.


This is probably going to be my favorite book series of the year, with its unique story line and humorous quirks May Bird makes for a fun and chilling read.

Warrior Princess takes us back to the world of Ever After, but its warmth that was once there has gone and a darkness shrouds the story like an anticipated storm that only proceeds to darken as the story continues. In the final chapters we are taken into Bo Cleevils secret world, where spirits have been captured for slavery and Bo lurks safely in his Dracula like castle, waiting to send May Bird over the bridge. But with the remaining free spirits both good and bad May has enough courage now to try free Ever After from the wicked spirits relentless grasp.

May Warrior Princess ends in a heartwarming slightly sad way that leaves the reader (or at least me) pleasantly satisfied and most certainly likely to read again and again!

******

[Zopdog · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first 2 books? Pretty alright. I grew up on them and they really were my favourite.
This one? No.
I get the impression anderson rushed through this one.
Throwing around bad cliches and a forced romance, along with repetitive sentence structure.
But these things are all forgivable, especially remembering the target audience. Its fine!
But the ending? What??? NASA?? The magic bring you back to life powder that was NEVER previously mentioned?? Are you KIDDING ME??
There's just so much wrong with it!! There were a million other easier and more plausible ways May could have gotten home alive (or, yknow she could have just stayed dead too and that would have been fine) but no! Nasa is here! And they are bringing a ship full of bs!!
I'm pretty sure the Ever After was something like 7 lightyears away from earth too. It may be fiction, but theres no way a spaceship from 2008 would be able to traverse 7 lightyears in even 1 year. Come ON

Pumpkin sacrificing himself? Solid!
Bo Cleevil's dialogue? Not solid! Nothing he said was anywhere near as frightening and impactful as it could've been.

This book made me so mad.
I rated it 2 stars for the first 2 books. Thats all youre getting, Jodi.

[Anna G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: This is the 3rd book in a trilogy, there will inherently be spoilers.

General Description:
May Bird is now 13 years old. She's been away from the Ever After for 3 years. When she receives a phone call where she swears it's Pumpkin, she has no choice but to go back. However, the Ever After is more deserted than ever. Can she and Somber Kitty find their old friends and take on Evil Bo Cleevile?

The enjoyable:
- I love the Ever After as a world, I would go back into that world any time.
- We get to explore more of the Ever After than we ever have and the side characters you meet, and the descriptions of the world, are thrilling.
- It was pretty quickly paced.

The loss of 2 stars:
- I don't really feel this is a great resolution to a series. It felt like a disjointed story.
- This also felt very rushed. We hear about Bo Cleevil for like all the books and the showdown between May and Bo lasts I think less than 10 pages, which I just don't think does it justice.

Overall: If you're okay with open endings, you could just skip this book and stick with the first 2 in a series. However, if you do want to finish the trilogy, I think there's no harm in reading it.

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I seriously love this book. It epitomizes everything I love about middle grade books- on the surface it’s a quirky adventure story with all the right elements, and then there’s the beautiful themes of love, friendship, and being yourself that come shining through. I love it more each time I read it. This is just the kind of book I’d like to write one day.

“But strangely, she didn’t feel alone at all. She felt like everyone who’d loved her, and every brave thing she’d ever done, stood behind her, holding her up.”

“Since then, the Ever After has not gone magically back to the way it had been. Nothing broken heals that quickly. It would take time, and patience, and hope- and slowly, over years, it would begin to grow back into what it had been. Maybe it would even be a little better.”

“Waiting for May Bird to come home for good.”

[LeeAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun fantasy, along the lines of Percy Jackson or Alice in Wonderland, but more fun. I also felt it had a kinship with Disney's Haunted Mansion ride (and a huge nod to the world of D&D). I loved the author's use of simile and metaphor throughout - any preteen will pick right up on it!

And -- a map! No epic journey is complete without one! And May Bird is certainly an epic hero. This entire book is her story of accepting her destiny and finding her purpose. (And the BEST epilogue ending ever)

pg 31 -- "Standing in the hallway, with her mind light-years away, in a snowy forest at the northern edge of the world of ghosts, she was a sort of May-shaped hole. It seemed that for all her life, she would feel like she belonged in neither one place nor the other. She would only ever belong somewhere in between."

[Lucy Ulferts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hardly ever write reviews for books no matter how much I love them, but this trilogy was something bizarre and special. I read the first one in 5th grade after my teacher said I would like it. She was 100% correct. I read the second and loved it just as much but couldn't find the third one anywhere. I ended up requesting it from the library and while I did cry my eyes out at the end for multiple reasons, it was worth the wait.
Most people want movies made after the books they love but I want a video game trilogy. It has everything—weird locations, stealth, action, horror, humor, fun characters, the list goes on.

[San · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember getting the 2nd book when there was a sale. I read it when I was 14. I found it horribly sad.
I Never thought I would read the next one ever.
I'm 22, now - someone with anxiety and depression. Somehow i understand it all. The story, from may to the lady, to Bo.
It is sad but isn't the world sad too- also it is beautiful and hopeful and very lovely to live in.
There are so many lose ends and wonderful writing, so well written and poetic, melancholy but bravery all wrapped up as gem in kids section.
Maybe, we just need to be patient to understand them- like may - go through some years- to come back home.

[Avery LuBell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty good finale to the trilogy, and for most of the book it was the strongest installment! At first I was thrown by the time jump, but I grew into it once the themes began to emerge. I loved the book's messages about individuality vs. conformity. The fact that Gentrification was literally defeated by a group of Free Spirits was just *chef's kiss*! This book is some goth kid's manifesto. It's me, I'm some goth kid. I love, too, that wrapped into this story was one about nature vs. consumerism, and how big corporations destroy what's naturally wonderous about a place for seemingly... no real benefit, just self-perpetuation.

This book had a similar feel

[McKenna Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t usually leave reviews on here but I thought I would for this series. I first read May Bird when I was in third grade and picked the first book out at the book fair. I would immediately become enraptured with May, Pumpkin, Somber Kitty, and the rest of the crew. I never read the last book because life came along and there was new things to read instead. Fast forward almost 20 years and I bought the set from Amazon from a fit of nostalgia. I am typing this with tears in my eyes, this is one of the best series I have ever read. The character development, the themes, the friends and lessons learned….I just don’t know if this can be topped. You got me Ms. Anderson!!!