Bird Nerd

by Jennifer Ann Richter

Overview

Nyla sets out to win her school's bird watching competition, while balancing old friends with new in this heartfelt debut.

Nyla Braun has always been called a nerd at her Philadelphia school. But that hasn’t stopped her from pursuing her nerdy hobbies, especially when she has best friend Tasha by her side. When a birding tournament between Nyla’s class and a class from a suburban school is announced, Nyla sees her chance to get the respect she deserves. If they win, that is. The Burb Birders will be tough competition.

With the contest underway, Nyla soon catches the attention of the most popular girl in class, who also wants to win, setting off a chain of small disasters as Nyla tries to balance old friends and new and the pressure to be cool when you really just want to be yourself.

Told with warmth and gentle humor, debut author Jennifer Ann Richter’s Bird Nerd combines a deep love of nature and birding with the story of a young girl learning to discover her own confidence and values.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823461837
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	11/04/2025
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Jennifer Ann Richter has been an active SCBWI member since 2015 and has published short stories and poetry for both children and adults. Her YA story “Partings” won honorable mention in the 2020 Writer's Digest Annual Writing Competition. Her historical poem “The Books of Timbuktu” appeared in the February 2022 issue of Cricket magazine. Bird Nerd is her debut. She lives in Delaware.

Editorial Reviews

"A stellar study of friendship and self-acceptance sure to make an avian enthusiast out of anyone."—Booklist

"With clear, descriptive writing, a tight storyline, and plenty of bird-related information, readers may feel inspired to explore birding, too."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2024-08-30
A fifth grade girl experiments with friendships and grows to love birds.

Nyla Braun, unkindly dubbed “Encyclopedia Braun” by her classmates, is taking the spring birding tournament between Anderson Elementary’s City Birders and Penn Elementary’s Burb Birders very seriously. She’s determined to count the most birds and learn all the bird songs and calls, allowing her to leave Anderson “on a high.” Becoming obsessed with her interests isn’t new—but this time, she also wants to improve her social status by leading the City Birders to victory. Nyla’s dreams start to come true when the wealthy Portia invites her to study for the trivia portion of the competition. Nyla already has a best friend, but Tasha isn’t into birds, and Nyla can’t put birding—or her chance at popularity—on hold. Thankfully, Nyla gets abundant support from Aunt Cherise, Granddad, and her parents, who help her with both birding and feelings (even if Nyla sometimes struggles with her mom’s relentless positivity). In her debut, Richter skillfully addresses mild tensions between the City Birders (who are mostly Black, like Nyla) and the Burb Birders (who are mostly white) and shows how common interests can unite people. With clear, descriptive writing, a tight storyline, and plenty of bird-related information (including excerpts from Nyla’s birding journals and checklists), readers may feel inspired to explore birding, too.

Quietly shares hard-won wisdom on friendship as well as a well-informed passion for birding. (author’s note, resources)(Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews