Thunderbird

CMES Emerging Voices from the Middle East

by Sonia Nimr, M. Lynx Qualey (Translator)

The Thunderbird trilogy is a fast-paced time-traveling fantasy adventure centered on Noor, a young orphaned Palestinian girl who starts in the present and must go back in time to get four magical bird feathers and save the world. Aided by a djinn cat and girls who look identical to Noor and who each have one of the bird’s powers, in this initial volume Noor begins her journey through different historical periods, striving to keep the wall between worlds intact.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Time Travel, Childrens, Science Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

Published April 26, 2022

Reviews

[Bogi Takács]

Middle grade time travel fantasy from a Palestinian author. I previously read and enjoyed her Wondrous Journeys in Strange Lands (both translated by M. Lynx Qualey). This is a short volume and it ends on a cliffhanger - book 2 just came out, so I'll have to pick that one up too.

After Noor's archeologist parents die in a plane crash, she is raised by her relatives, but she has a lot of conflict with them - especially after her grandmother, her one staunch ally passes away. The family also blame Noor for the unexpected fires that crop up around her, even though she's sure she's not setting fires on purpose. Soon, she finds out that her parents were on the trail of a cryptid, and she might be the only one able to find out about the mystery - and save the world?!

This is a middle grade book: it shows quite a lot to young readers, but the focus remains on the adventure. Noor witnesses the occupation's military checkpoints and travel restrictions, finds out about Palestine's history, and even about mythological creatures; all with a middle-grade-appropriate amount of detail. I think it's hard to say much about the overarching storyline, because this is just one third of it, but I'm definitely picking up the next volume too. I'm not seeing a preorder for book 3 yet, which worries me a bit.

I thought some aspects about the fires were resolved a bit too quickly, but later volumes might have further complications - I'll see. Overall I enjoyed this book!

I have a small gripe about the book as an object: I was a bit frustrated that the font size was smalllll, this does matter for a middle grade audience and also for me. The line spacing on the other hand was quite large; I would definitely have increased the font size and maybe decreased the spacing a bit. This book was surprisingly published by a university press, and they might not be accustomed to publishing children's books...
____
Source of the book: Lawrence Public Library, who ordered it on my purchase request. Thank you!!!

[Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا]

My copy

[Hannah (hngisreading) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Middle grade story about a young girl from Palestine who travels back in time from collect feathers from a Phoenix in order to save the boundary between worlds. Magic, djinn, time travel, and talking cats. What more could you want?

[Razan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a children’s book, I think adding illustrations would bring to life some of the cultural aspects the author is trying to emphasise as well as create a heightened sense of wonder & magic to the tale 🦚💥

[Katherine]

Thunderbird- By Sonia Nimr

One might think that a girl who can start fires is a bad thing. In the case of Noor, the protagonist of Book 1 – Thunderbird, starting fires is a link to a mystical connection to the divine and the driving force of the narrative.
The book begins with coffee grounds being read by an old woman, enticing the reader into the story with a direct connection to magical realism. Instantly you believe the scene, believe the woman’s powers to see the unknown in discarded, used coffee grounds. It is that belief the author so expertly uses to take us on a true journey into one girl’s dark and mystical discoveries about herself and her history.
Set in Palestine, under the shadow of the occupation, the day-to-day life of a young orphaned girl is not easy. Noor’s parents have died tragically, leaving her in the care of her beloved grandmother. Both Noor and her grandmother have to live with her uncle and his less than likable wife and daughter. The setup for an evil stepmother figure and an isolated protagonist is well-done. Immediately the reader feels the loneliness of Noor and the separateness she has as an orphan living off the good tidings of others. However, Noor’s grandmother’s love protects her from the world and offers the reader a glimpse into Noor’s lovableness. Seeing their relationship so tenderly told, the readers have an idea of just how loved Noor was by her professor parents and how different her life is now that they are gone.
Widad, the evil aunt, wants Noor gone from her home, as it appears that wherever Noor goes, unexplained fires tend to follow. There was the backpack incident at school, which the neighbors are all talking about. Widad is horrified with Noor and tells her husband that the girl must go. Grandmother Teita is there to console Noor and gives her a ring, something her father wanted her to have in case something happened. The night Noor is given the ring, she realizes the ring resembles a bird, just like what the old woman had seen in Noor’s coffee grounds. This ring will guide Noor to find the thunderbird (phoenix) and the truth of her parent’s research.
Sonia Nimr has created an epic story, and with Noor, our fire-starting orphan, as a protagonist, one cannot help but be taken in with the adventure and new worlds the series presents to us. It is an age-old story, one girl against the world, one girl to save humanity. As a reader, you believe Noor can do it. If fact, you know she can, even if she doubts herself. With all good adventure stories, there will be magical friends to help her and alternate worlds to time-travel to, but Noor is the focus, and you root for her. She meets a version of herself, magical Ginn, and realizes her parents were much more than just her parents. Their studies and discoveries are probably what led to their ‘accident.’ Their research guides Noor on her way to save the world.
The book is set in Palestine, and our protagonist is a young Palestinian also gives readers another layer of fear for her life. There is a scene in the book in which Noor has to go through border control, and the feeling of worry is palpable. Nimr does an excellent job of making sure the reader knows that Noor is not just a young orphan on a quest, but her real life also poses a viable threat to her.
If there is any criticism of the book, it is in the way of needing more references to Palestine’s tiered and layered history. Nimr does an excellent job of introducing the history, especially with the time-traveling Noor meeting her doppelganger, but there was a missed opportunity to give the reader more insight into Palestine’s volatile past.
As the book concludes, the setup for Book 2 is real, and we are literally left hanging. When will Book 2 be released?

[alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a cute middle grade novel. I agree with what a lot of the other reviews have said: this book deserves some fun illustrations, a bigger font for the kiddos, and some more hype. ❤️‍🔥 I’m excited to read Book 2 and see how Noor’s quest continues!

[Avery Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming Children’s Fantasy

Thunderbird is the story of a young Palestinian girl who discovers she has supernatural powers and is plunged into a quest to save the world. The main character, Noor, must travel through time and seek help from Palestinians of the past in order to find the mythical thunderbird and save its life. It’s a charming tale for children that combines history with adventure and the important lesson that no matter what terrible things you must face, you’re never truly alone.

[Katey Flowers]

Read for #middlegrademarch 2024: https://youtu.be/7uMSJCRGvYc

DNF at 50 pages

[Kia Borner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a dip middle grade fantasy book.

Noor is like most girls her age but throughout what is happening she is doing her best and I love it.
I love the way this story is forming even though it does tackle some heavy topics.

Can’t wait to get book two!

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great fantasy - esp for teens, youth. Almost a short story in part. Incorporated legends and history of Palestine. Would be a great addition to the read 🇵🇸 challenge

[alexis from Paramore · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75/5 rounded up

I really enjoyed this book. The fantasy was fun and age appropriate, and the author approached the topic of Palestinian occupation very gently. In the end, I ended up rating the book 4.75/5. The only issue I had was that it ended very abruptly. I don't know if that was a choice so that young readers would pick it up because it's a small chapter book, but I found it extremely annoying, especially with my issue securing the second book, and the questionability about the third's release date. To read my full review, please click here

[Zaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4.5)

[Kirin · Rating 4 out of 5]

My public library had this book and so I picked it up seeing that it was Palestinian authored fantasy, and I am always on the lookout to support OWN voice Palestinian stories.  The book cover is gorgeous, the inside text unfortunately is tiny making this middle school aged book only 110 pages.  It is translated from Arabic and published by a university, so my expectations were pretty meager which assisted in me being fully swept away by the story at hand.  Sure the book has a few glitches in point of view,  often it feels a bit abrupt and djinn stories are a dime a dozen, but what elevated this book and made it stand out was the Palestinian history interwoven into the plot: snippets about the Mamluk soldiers and Ottomans, the Ayyubid rulers and walls around Jerusalem.  There isn't enough history touched upon in my opinion, but I look forward to see, now that the world building is established, if the rest of the series will highlight the historical thread.  I have no idea if the characters or author are Muslim, there are references to praying and hearing the athan, but they could just be cultural.  There is magic, fantasy, djinn, prophecies, and reading of tea leaves, as well as fighting, assault, and talk of oppression under Israeli rule.  I'd assume it is advanced Middle Grade or lower YA, but to me it seems 11 and up would enjoy the quick fast paced read.

SYNOPSIS:

Noor's parents are dead, and she lives with a grandmother who loves her, and an uncle and his family who don't.  When her grandma dies, Noor is alone and with things combusting in to flames around her and no one left to defend her claims that it wasn't her, Noor is trying to piece together a ring left to her, her mother's research, and her flame creation abilities.  Her search leads her to a colleague of her mother's and an old archaeological site.  While staying with an aunt in Jericho over the holidays, a mysterious cat guides her to the same archeological site where the cat reveals that she is really a djinn.  The barrier between the seen and unseen world is failing, and Noor is prophesized to be the only one that can ensure it doesn't happen.  With a trait of the mythical phoenix Noor must find ways to travel in time and retrieve a feather before the bird is reborn.  Along the way she will have the help of the djinn and of her doppelgänger from that time period.

WHY I LIKE IT:

The story is clever, fast paced, and the character endearing.  I wish the details were fleshed out and of course I wish there was more history when she travels back in time.  The climaxes are quick builds and even quicker resolutions, but despite all the flaws I really enjoyed the story and look forward to the rest of the series.  The book ends on a cliff hanger that feels rather abrupt, but being it is clearly established as book one in a trilogy, I don't think readers will be too upset at the sudden end.

FLAGS:

Magic, time travel, prophesies, fortune telling, assault, oppression, fighting, loss, arson, arguing, djinn, fighting

TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:

The book probably is too short for a book club read, but I think a teacher could definitely use it as a reference in story writing, historical fiction fantasy, culture inclusion lessons.  If you wanted to use the book, you'd be able to find plenty to draw on for teachable moments in literature, history, and writing style.  There would also be a lot to discuss in terms of occupation, myth, legend, and culture.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

📖 4 ⭐️
This is an easy Middle-Grade read. It reminds me of the stories I used to read as a kid - short, whimsical & very plot driven.
Noor is a 13 year old Palestinian girl. Her mother & father were killed in a plane crash just that year. Now she lives in with her uncle, grandmother, her mean aunt & spoiled cousin. It’s a bit of a Cinderella story. Everyone but her grandmother ignores her. Her uncle tolerates her, her aunt & cousin loathe her. And not just because they now have to care for her, but things seem to start of fire when Noor is around. When her Grandmother dies, things only get worse. Now it’s just her in a house with a family who doesn’t want her. The only thing she has is a tarnished ring her Grandmother gave her the night before she died, passed down from Noor’s father.
One day, Noor cleans the tarnished ring & finds a strange bird engraved on it. She also learns to control her fire-starting power. It comes when she’s angry, sad - feeling any heavy pain emotion. But when she settles her mind & focuses on flames, then she can bring it forth upon her will.
Noor recognizes the engraving from her mother’s work. Looking through her mother’s laptop she finds a paper & images of the strange bird in a presentation her parents were going to make before their flight crashed. She doesn’t understand it so decides to skip school & visit her parents friend & colleague at the university.

[Zoë]

Most of this book is a very solid middle grade that I feel would be so much better had it been longer. I'm pretty sure that I need to consider all three books in order to give this a fair rating - even the synopsis of this book should probably be understood as a synopsis for the entire trilogy.

Anyway, this is mostly an introduction to Noor without much plot. And while I'm really not someone who needs a lot of plot to be doing stuff, It just feels like the story-arc is just about to arc only to be suddenly cut off. And while the ending is great (I actually think that the ending is fantastic) I fear that it feels more like the end of a chapter than the end of an entire book. Naturally, then, I'm looking forward to reading the next book.

(As a side-note, I also don't mind if I end up with this beautiful a cover three times.)

[Chantal Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I was supposed to read this for my Palestinian fairytale class but wasn’t able to read it before the class ended. I decided to read it on my own anyway.

This was Interesting and fun to read. The concept is so cool I want to keep reading. The execution of the concept was not always the best. I got annoyed at how often the main character kept passing out at important moments or how falling asleep was used to transition into the next scene. I had to take off stars for that came off as super lazy and not edited well. Some of the dialogue was not good. I know this book is a translation, this could be due to the translation but some of dialogue was odd. Especially the way the Djinn talked was strange but maybe this was done on purpose.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it ✨👏 touching, fantasy middle grade mixed with history ! A compelling fairy tale by a very talented Palestinian author I did not know. The cover is absolutely stunning and the wording/story solid and gripping 🤩
We follow the quest of Noor, a 13 years old orphan looking for 4 feathers 🪶🪶 of a magical bird in order to prevent a mysterious disaster. This is the first book of a trilogy and can't wait to follow the rest of the adventures of Noor, and her magical cat. A refreshing brillant fast pacing tale full with middle east folklore. It deserves more hype, I recommend it strongly ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ stars

[Trishwah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting blend of fantasy, magical realism and mythology infused with touches of Palestinian history. A solid middle grade read. Sadly, once again, the teen savior has dead parents. Poor parents. It's very short, but the other two books are definitely going to be needed to complete the story. Even in this first part with one time jump you get the sense of how Palestine has been subject to so many waves of invasion and victimization by people who have used this place for their own advantage.

[Rachel]

This is a fun middle grade fantasy book about a Palestinian girl named Noor who is chosen to save the world. With a ring left to her by her father she will travel through time to collect the feather of a phoenix before it goes up in flames. She has the help of a djinn and other friends. There is a lot of heart and compassion in this book and I am excited to read the sequel.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was fascinating, Noor was a great character and there were lots of lovely magical bit but it was a bit jerky at times narrative wise, and the time travel part didn't get quite the emotionally charged intensity of the real world part of the story. (also the print was teensy).

[Israa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical fantasy, awesome! I wish this were longer and more complex. I would like to learn more about the history of Jerusalem in the sequels. This book is clean, and I would recommend it for a school library, but not necessarily classroom use.

[Madison Lovely · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was short but still engaging. The main character is beginning her search for four feathers and the book ends with the potential that she has found one. I imagine each book will be finding a different feather.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic novella and I look forward to continuing this series.