Be Light Like a Bird

by Monika Schröder

Overview

After the death of her father, twelve-year-old Wren finds her life thrown into upheaval. And when her mother decides to pack up the car and forces Wren to leave the only home she's ever known, the family grows even more fractured. As she and her mother struggle to build a new life, Wren must confront issues with the environment, peer pressure, bullying, and most of all, the difficulty of forgiving those who don't deserve it. A quirky, emotional middle grade novel set in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Be Light Like a Bird features well-drawn, unconventional characters and explores what it means to be a family—and the secrets and lies that can tear one apart.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623707491
Publisher:	Capstone
Publication date:	09/01/2016
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Monika Schröder writes novels for middle-grade readers. Her books include My Brother's Shadow, which was nominated for the 2014 New York State Reading Association's Charlotte Award; Saraswati's Way, a Story of an Indian Street Child, which Bank Street College named one of the best books of 2011; and The Dog in the Wood, which earned a starred review from Kirkus and was chosen by Voya as "Top shelf fiction for middle school readers." Monika grew up in Germany but has lived and worked in Egypt, Oman, Chile, and India. She brought an Indian Street dog, whom she calls Frank, from New Delhi to her current home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. When Frank isn't demanding her attention, Monika invents vegetarian dishes, bakes cheesecakes, and tends her garden.

Interviews

• Addresses big issues • explores themes of forgiveness • peer pressure, bullying, and preserving the environment • well-drawn, unconventional characters are relatable

Editorial Reviews

Younger adult readers who have experienced a loss in their family will be able to relate to Wren’s grief and confusion in the wake of her father’s death and her mother’s reaction. The story is very simple, told with engaging characters.

VOYA

This quiet, introspective story focused on grief and the environment reminds one of a serious Carl Hiaasen novel. The setting is beautifully rendered. . . .Wren is a likable young girl with more wisdom than the typical 12-year-old...this thoughtful tale still delivers an important message about caring for others.

Booklist

Sometimes emotions can be hard to talk about, even for adults. In Be Light Like a Bird by Monika Schroder, Wren’s mom won’t talk to her about her feelings after Wren’s father dies. When her mother insists that they move, connecting becomes even harder. But in her new home in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Wren must learn to cope with her grief and find out who she is without her father by her side.

"Lacey Recommends" New Moon Girls

I found this beautiful chapter book story so compelling. . . .It’s a story of grief, redemption, forgiveness, and ultimately, hope, and is one that will stay with you.

Imagination Soup

Wren, 12, has just lost her father. Her mom won’t talk about him, and she seems more angry than sad. Her father’s belongings are thrown away without Wren’s consent, and her mom keeps moving them to different towns, getting a new boyfriend in each one. She must find a way to deal with her grief and express her feelings.

Skipping Stones

2016-06-22
A young girl's first-person narrative of her journey through grief to acceptance.After her father's death in an airplane accident, 12-year-old Wren is enveloped in a cloud of grief. With no body to bury, she mitigates her sadness by burying the animals she finds dead along the road. Wren's mother retreats into anger, leaving Wren to feel abandoned by both parents. After several brief moves, the mother and daughter, both white, end up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where Wren continues the bird-watching she so loved with her father. Through a school assignment, Wren learns that Pete's Pond, her birding locale, is slated to be destroyed to expand a landfill. She and her project partner, Theo, who's also white, lead a protest to stop the plan. Wren wrestles with whether to compromise her values to join the popular girls at school, deciding instead to be true to herself. By the predictable but satisfying ending, Wren has grown, with the help of Theo, whose mother previously died, toward acceptance, forgiveness, and a new definition of family. While it's preachy in parts, the maudlin is averted by Wren's authentic voice and the inclusion of engaging characters and substantive issues, ranging from peer pressure and bullying to infidelity and environmental concerns. Skillful characterization carries this quiet novel along. (Fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews