September 6, 2021
Ten-year-old Birdie, terrified for the safety of her Vermont National Guard father when he is called to Iraq for his third deployment, strikes a bargain with God: she’ll “be a witness in the world if...you will just keep my Daddy safe.” Challenges abound for Birdie, beyond fearing for her dad’s safety: financial difficulties have forced her mother and baby brother to move in with her grandmother, and she is claimed for friendship by unpleasant classmate Alicia Marie Suggs, who frequently exaggerates. Struggling to follow the tenets of her beliefs, timid Birdie allows Alicia to monopolize her time and passively accepts Alicia’s abuse, until a family emergency causes a crisis of faith. Other than disagreeable Alicia, who vanishes midway through the book, poorly fleshed-out characters (all presumed white) populate what is more a snapshot of a family—and tween’s—turmoil than a fully constructed plotline. Though frequently unfocused, Newbery Medalist Paterson’s novel respects Birdie’s friendship struggles and offers lyrical turns of phrase: upon Birdie’s seeing a gleaming tree encased in ice, “The thought came to her that the tree was singing, singing a hymn to the sun.” Ages 9–12.