Publishers Weekly
★ 11/07/2016
Charlie feels safest at home in California, where his family tolerates his obsessive rituals and fascination with birds. But home isn’t the same without his journalist father, who is far away in Virginia being treated for a brain injury he incurred in Afghanistan. Charlie hates change and travel, but in order to see his father, he’s willing to endure a cross-country road trip with his twin brothers, boy-crazy older sister, and a pink-haired woman from Sarajevo serving as their chaperone. Both eye-opening and revealing, Pla’s debut novel showcases some of America’s greatest landmarks while tracing a fearful boy’s gradual emergence from his shell as he learns to trust strangers and try new things. Through Charlie’s perspective (it’s implied, though not stated outright, that he has OCD and is on the autism spectrum), readers encounter many natural wonders (including several birds, shown in postcardlike images from McLaughlin), meet fascinating characters, and learn about the connection between the children’s chaperone and their father. Offering a mixture of suspense, mystery, tragedy and humor, Pla’s story captures both the literal and figurative meanings of journey. Ages 8–12. Author’s agent: Taylor Martindale Kean, Full Circle Literary. (Jan.)
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.
School Library Journal
01/01/2017
Gr 4–6—Charlie, 12, is fascinated by birds, a passion he shares with his dad. Charlie also has autism, which means that he prefers order and the safety of his own rituals to the wide open spaces of the world. Together, Charlie and his father make a list of "someday birds" that they want to see. But the stability of Charlie's life is disrupted when his father returns from Afghanistan with a severe brain injury. No one knows if he will recover, and Charlie and his siblings are anxious about it. It's decided that his dad will be moved across the country to Virginia for treatment. Along with a somewhat mysterious family friend/babysitter, Ludmila, the family set out from California to Virginia. Making the trip a sort of vacation, the children visit national parks and roadside wonders. Charlie makes the best of the disorganized adventure by trying to locate as many of the someday birds as possible, thinking this will please his father and speed up his recovery. Charlie is charming and lovable. He is a quiet and thoughtful boy who manages to be (in his own way) adventurous and brave. VERDICT 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.—Patricia Feriano, Montgomery County Public Schools, MD
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)
