From the Publisher
Sally J. Pla does a wonderful job of weaving humor and humanity into this tale of one boy’s triumph.” — Cammie McGovern, author of JUST MY LUCK and SAY WHAT YOU WILL
“Sally J. Pla’s heartwarming debut novel zings with humor, spot-on characters, and a poignant exploration of the effects of war.” — Edith Hope Fine, author of UNDER THE LEMON MOON
“A truly wonderful, unique story. This celebration of family, individuality, and nature will remind you to always be on the lookout for wonder.” — Wendy Mass, New York Times best-selling author of THE CANDYMAKERS
“Achingly real...Charlie’s unique voice and his quest to understand the world around him will resonate with readers dealing with their own pain. Hopeful, authentic, and oddly endearing.” — Kirkus Reviews
★ “Offering a mixture of suspense, mystery, tragedy and humor, Pla’s story captures both the literal and figurative meanings of journey.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A delight from beginning to end.” — Booklist
“Readers will genuinely be captivated and touched by Charlie’s soft and sensitive demeanor and amused by his ponderous exploits across the country. A strong addition to most middle grade collections.” — School Library Journal
“This has all of the possible/impossible elements of successful middle-grade fiction...Readers who enjoyed Sloan’s Counting by 7s (BCCB 9/13) will be the ideal audience for this. ” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“The Someday Birds is a raw, funny road trip story that reminds us that even the most literal-minded people can occasionally be sucker-punched by a miracle.” — BookPage.com
“A triumphant debut with the resonance and depth of an instant classic. ” — Nerdy Book Club
★ “Pla gives us a memorable hero in this lyrical and funny book.” — Shelf Awareness (starred review)
“[A] colorful adventure with a lot of heart...Like a harbinger of spring flitting through a gray sky, The Someday Birds is a welcome arrival.” — Common Sense Media
Wendy Mass
A truly wonderful, unique story. This celebration of family, individuality, and nature will remind you to always be on the lookout for wonder.
Nerdy Book Club
A triumphant debut with the resonance and depth of an instant classic.
Booklist
A delight from beginning to end.
Edith Hope Fine
Sally J. Pla’s heartwarming debut novel zings with humor, spot-on characters, and a poignant exploration of the effects of war.
BookPage.com
The Someday Birds is a raw, funny road trip story that reminds us that even the most literal-minded people can occasionally be sucker-punched by a miracle.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
This has all of the possible/impossible elements of successful middle-grade fiction...Readers who enjoyed Sloan’s Counting by 7s (BCCB 9/13) will be the ideal audience for this.
Cammie McGovern
Sally J. Pla does a wonderful job of weaving humor and humanity into this tale of one boy’s triumph.
Shelf Awareness (starred review)
★ “Pla gives us a memorable hero in this lyrical and funny book.
Common Sense Media
[A] colorful adventure with a lot of heart...Like a harbinger of spring flitting through a gray sky, The Someday Birds is a welcome arrival.
Booklist
A delight from beginning to end.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
This has all of the possible/impossible elements of successful middle-grade fiction...Readers who enjoyed Sloan’s Counting by 7s (BCCB 9/13) will be the ideal audience for this.
Kirkus Reviews
2016-10-19
While serving as a journalist in Afghanistan, a widowed father of four is injured, leaving him hospitalized and his children without a parent.Though the siblings share the same light-brown skin and dark hair their Mexican mother had, each faces the uncertain future differently. Twelve-year-old Charlie loses himself in his obsession with birds and his OCD rituals. Fifteen-year-old Davis finds solace in her quest for romance. Joel and Jake, 10-year-old twins, distract themselves with video games and wild antics. But when their one link to normalcy, their white grandmother, must accompany their father across the country to Virginia for additional medical treatment, the four are lost. Davis organizes a road trip to see their father, but that is quickly derailed by a car accident. Then Ludmila, the mysterious Russian stranger who has been keeping a bedside vigil with their father, shows up and whisks them on a cross-country trip that changes everything. Pla's debut is an achingly real portrait of a family living in the in-between place of a wait-and-see prognosis. Charlie's unique voice and his quest to understand the world around him will resonate with readers dealing with their own pain. Hopeful, authentic, and oddly endearing. (Fiction. 8-12)
