Bird Springs

by Carolyn Marsden

Ten-year-old Gregory and his family had to leave the Navajo reservation at Bird Springs—the only home they've ever known—and move to a motel in Tucson, Arizona. Gregory misses his absent father, but he likes school, particularly art class with the kind teacher. He also makes a new friend, Matt, who promptly informs him art class is really art therapy and that Gregory is staying in a shelter, not a motel. Even though Matt can be outspoken, he's just what Gregory needs now. He's honest and generous with his allowance so they can ride the Ferris wheel at the carnival.   Award-winning author Carolyn Marsden paints a poignant story of a little boy who, as he confronts the more painful aspects of his past, is filled with a sense of hope.

Genres: Middle Grade, Contemporary, Fiction, Childrens

128 pages, Hardcover

First published May 17, 2007

About the author

Carolyn Marsden was born in Mexico City to missionary parents. She has been a writer all her life, but THE GOLD-THREADED DRESS is her first book. About THE GOLD-THREADED DRESS she says, "I wrote this story when my half-Thai daughter was being teased at school. As a parent and elementary school teacher, I watched her struggle to establish a cultural identity. I became fascinated with a conflict that is common to many children in our increasingly diverse United States." Carolyn Marsden has an MFA in Writing for Children from Vermont College. After spending the last twenty-five years in Tucson, Arizona, Carolyn Marsden now lives by the ocean with her husband and two daughters.

Reviews

[Audrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young Navajo boy is living in a shelter in the city with his Mom and little sister after a drought drove them from their home on the Reservation. Gregory is constantly worried about being kicked out of the shelter. He worries he will never see his father again. This is a very short book dealing with very big topics: isolation, cultural differences, poverty, and domestic violence. It is more like a snapshot than a novel but I know some kids who may like it so it might be a win.

[Dawn]

I have the book and I'm waiting to get a chance to read it.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bird Springs is a place, and it looms very large in this story, although none of the story takes place there (except in brief flashbacks). But it is where the protagonist of this book - Gregory - grew up, and where his heart is, even though he now lives miles away in a shelter for people down on their luck.
I liked the book but it was kind of bleak. It's a quick read; in fact it reads almost like a short story. I can see recommending this to reluctant boy readers from 4th - 6th grades. I appreciated the fact that even though the main character is a Navajo boy, there was none of that bogus mystical Native American stuff in it that always seems to sentimentalize that culture.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

My prediction was right! I thought Greg and Matt would go on a ferris wheel in a carnival. They went in the cherry red seats, just like Greg imagined. Anyway, Greg gets two strikes, which are warnings in the shelter he is living at. One is because his mom left Jeanine, his sister, at the daycare for 45 minutes longer, and while Greg was playing with Matt, his mom thought he was missing because it was so late. Greg hoped he wouldn't get a third strike and didn't even think he was going to get two! This book wasn't the best, but it was okay.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

since i teach a lot of kids who are currently or have recently been homeless, i like finding books with characters and stories that take up issues surrounding extreme poverty and homelessness. this book does that, but i don't know how else to put this: it was very boring. i can't see many kids reading past the first chapter. maybe if i assigned it, and a few kids might surprise me, but the plot is too slow and the problems are too weakly developed.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was nominated for a Cybil for middle grade fiction. I liked the story and the relationship of the boy displaced from the Indian reservation by drought with his art therapist. In some ways, the boy seemed younger than his age (10?) in the book. While I liked the development of the characters and setting, I couldn't really think of children to whom I would recommend this book.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gregory, his mom, and sister and have to move to a hotel (shelter) in Arizona after hard times fall on Bird Springs Reservation. Gregory is forced to face his painful pass with an abusive dad through his new school and friends. This book moves a little slow, but brings light to hardships some families face.

[Carolyn Gause · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short book about a native American boy and his family who are forced to leave the reservations and move to the city. It is a bitter sweet sort of story, but a little too understated. The book aims to be more than it finally is.

[Yolanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is well written, it kept the attention of my five and seven year old girls. I will look for other books by this author for storytime. It is more of a realistic view of life and not sugar coated.

[Kristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I totally couldn't finish this one. The main character, who is Native, continues a friendship with a boy who is constantly offending him and his people. Ugh.

[Gin · Rating 2 out of 5]

themes include the stress a 10 year old boy feels when coping with an abusive parent, being homeless, plus beginning a new school and dealing with a bully.