Bird
Written by Crystal Chan
Narrated by Amandla Stenberg
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
Nothing matters. Only Bird matters. And he flew away.
Jewel never knew her brother Bird, but all her life she has lived in his shadow. Her parents blame Grandpa for the tragedy of their family's past; they say that Grandpa attracted a malevolent spirit-a duppy-into their home. Grandpa hasn't spoken a word since. Now Jewel is twelve, and she lives in a house full of secrets and impenetrable silence.
Jewel is sure that no one will ever love her like they loved Bird, until the night that she meets a mysterious boy in a tree. Grandpa is convinced that the boy is a duppy, but Jewel knows that he is something more. And that maybe-just maybe-the time has come to break through the stagnant silence of the past.
Crystal Chan
Crystal Chan watched with amazement at the exotic zoo outbreak in Zanesville, Ohio in 2011, where scores of animals—hungry lions, panthers, and tigers—ran loose around the county. That incident helped inspire her most recent novel, All That I Can Fix. When Crystal isn’t writing, her passion is giving diversity talks to adults and kids alike, telling stories on Wisconsin Public Radio, and hosting conversations on social media. Her debut novel, Bird, was published in nine countries and is available on audiobook in the US. She is the parent of a teenage turtle (not a ninja).
Related to Bird
Related audiobooks
The Night Is Alive Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bodbod's Ghosts Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAt Home by the Sea Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Unbelievable FIB 2: Over the Underworld Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death-Touched [Dramatized Adaptation] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlue Ridge Sunrise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Aiming for Love Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cheers to the Duke Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Made for Love: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gnomebeam to Yumpland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHis Second-Chance Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Blossom Tree of Dreams Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Prose and Cons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Falsetto in the Woods: A Nocturne Symphony Novella Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Nightstar Shifters 2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Marrying Jonah Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Wilderwomen: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5His Second-Chance Family & Katie's Redemption Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Deadroads: A Novel of Supernatural Suspense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fancy Nancy: Saturday Night Sleepover Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Angel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Moti on the Water Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Keeping Guard Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Empty Net Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In the Dark: A Gripping Psychological Suspense Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5After She's Gone Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5An Amish Family Christmas: A Charmed Amish Life Christmas Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Suddenly Annie's Father Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lost in Arcadia: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Autumn's Game: Autumn Trent Series Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Children's Family For You
Coraline Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Series of Unfortunate Events #1 Multi-Voice, A: The Bad Beginning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Voyage of the Dawn Treader Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Horse and His Boy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Where the Wild Things Are Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Out of My Mind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girl Who Drank the Moon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coraline: Full Cast Production Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Secret Garden Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Graveyard Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Series of Unfortunate Events #2: The Reptile Room Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5From the Mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fortunately, the Milk Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The One and Only Bob Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wish Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Socks Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Farmer Boy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Onyeka and the Rise of the Rebels Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Odd and the Frost Giants Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Maze of Bones (The 39 Clues, Book 1) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Series of Unfortunate Events #3: The Wide Window Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wolves in the Walls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On the Banks of Plum Creek Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine (National Book Award Finalist) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How Do You Live? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Big Tree Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Little Town on the Prairie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Night Divided Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Berenstain Bears' Nature Rescue: An Early Reader Chapter Book Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Bird
28 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jewel was born the day her five year old brother, nicknamed Bird, tried to fly off a cliff. Her whole life her Grandpa hasn't spoken and her parents have been sad and angry. Her father believes in evil spirits. Jewel is bright and wants to be a geologist. When she meets a boy visiting his uncle for the summer, they click. But their friendship is tested several times. Strong characters, but at times the drama with Jewel's parents dragged the story down.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
What a wonderful book. Thank you to the friends who suggested that I read it. It was full of emotion, a complete see-saw, and yet at the end I felt optimistic about the future for the characters. They were very well rounded and I felt as if I actually cared what happened to them. Bereavement is something that affects all families, but learning to cope and supporting family members is so very important.
I read this from a copy provided by Netgalley, with thanks - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5tween/middlegrade realistic fiction; families dealing with grief (with 12 year old mixed race protagonist in rural Iowa). Great depth of character and voice, even when characters don't come right out and say things (which is often), there are a million ways to tell that Jewel is lonely, or that she still feels a strong connection with her deceased older brother (whom she never knew). Extremely impressive debut novel from Chan, who herself grew up as a mixed race child in rural Wisconsin.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It's scary how relatable this book is. It made me cry for the first time in many years.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5"Bird" is a beautiful book that looks hard things right in the eye and demands explanations. Everyone in "Bird" is wrapped up in themselves and the sadness and anxieties of much of life. Jewel has tried all her life to make up for her sad parents' and silent Grandfather's loss on the day she was born of five-year-old John, nicknamed Bird, who would have been her big brother. The new boy--coincidentally also named John--in town to visit his uncle upsets the delicate, dysfunctional balance of Jewel and her family, making Jewel realize that even if Bird and his tragic death are part of her, she can also only be herself. All the voices in the book are unique and convincing, especially that of Jewel, who tells the story in first person. I cried when I finally experienced Bird's voice.
I'm sending a copy of this book to my 12-year-old niece in Wales right after I post this review. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bird is a middle school grade novel by first time author Crystal Chan. Jewel was born on the day her brother, Bird died. His real name was John but Jewel's grandfather called him Bird and after he jumped to his death from a cliff pretending to fly Jewels grandfather hasn't spoken and her family is steeped in grief and despair.On the eve of her 12th birthday Jewel leaves the house late at night to climb a tree and look at the stars. In the tree she meets John, a young African-American boy who was adopted by a white family. Jewel thinks it's weird that she met a boy with her brother's name in a spot out near where he died but the two become good friends. Jewel's father doesn't trust him though. He believes that John is an a duppy (spirits trapped on earth who cause trouble) who has come to cause more trouble in their family. He goes out of his way to keep John away from his family.John is visiting his Uncle while his parents get ready to have a baby. Which brings up many feelings of abandonment, his adoption, and anger in John. While the drama going on in both children's lives at first appear the same by the end you see how very similar their concerns are. Jewel lives in a house that hasn't let go of the grief and sadness of losing their son, and John believes his parents don't really want him now that they are having their "own" child. This is a beautifully written book and a well thought out story that really touches on what it means to feel different, how children view the world around them and how we are all connected and can help each other to be whole. Many books deal with identity and parent and child relationships but Bird is on a completely different level. Bird is a compelling story about values, traditions and relationships that redefines what it means to be a family, I loved this book.