Publishers Weekly
09/06/2021
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. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
As her protagonist copes first with the move and then with her crisis of faith, Paterson rounds the story with specific physical details (as well as skillfully deploying an omniscient narrator) and depicts the character’s emotional arc with authenticity and empathy.
—The Horn Book
Paterson’s writing is smooth and nuanced. . . Lovely prose and an intriguing family situation.
—Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
2021-08-16
Can a person really make a deal with God?
When her father’s National Guard unit gets deployed overseas for the third time, and 10-year-old Birdie, her mom, and her 6-month-old brother, Billy, have to move into her grandmother’s small house, Birdie is so upset she refuses to tell her father goodbye. Overcome with guilt after he leaves, she thinks back to the lessons she learned at the Bible camp her parents used as child care the summer before and promises God that she’ll behave and be a witness if he keeps her father safe. Then God seems to lead her to Alicia Marie, a troubled and troublesome girl in her new class who demands more than Birdie wants to give. Birdie does her best to live up to her promise to God—but Daddy is injured anyhow. Paterson’s writing is smooth and nuanced, but this novel lacks a defined narrative arc. Birdie learns to see the truth behind Alicia’s lies and exaggerations, but then Alicia, the most fully realized character, drops out of the story entirely. Birdie is reassured when she visits her father at Walter Reed hospital after he is flown back to the U.S. for treatment. She is also comforted some months later when her grandmother suggests a kinder version of God, but she doesn’t exhibit much growth on her own. Characters default to White.
Lovely prose and an intriguing family situation but insufficient character development. (Fiction. 8-12)
