‘People should
be careful about the stories they spread’, Twig Fowler says about the rumour
that a mysterious creature is living in Sidwell. Twig, the narrator, is twelve
years old, gawky, awkward and shy, and too tall for her age. She is nothing
like her mother - graceful and beautiful, and the best cook in the county.
Their farmhouse is 200 acres of apple orchards. It is here they come back to
hide after leaving New York.
Twig and her mum
have a secret and he hides in the attic. It’s her seventeen year old brother
James, who was born with wings. It was the result of a spell cast by Agnes
Early, witch of Sidwell, on the Fowler male line two hundred years ago, after
being left by the man she was to marry.
James is a night
bird. He has learnt the language of all the birds in the Montgomery Woods and
they flock around him when he appears, especially the small saw whet owls. Twig
knows this because James takes her on his outings. This is a secret she keeps
from her mother.
A family with
two delightful and friendly girls, Agate and Julia, moves into Mourning Dove
Cottage next to Twig’s property. She tries to keep her distance. It is too
dangerous for James if she makes friends. But life has its own plans and
secrets are there to be discovered. Friendships take root in the strangest
ground and sometimes nothing can stop them.
How will Twig
and Julia find the way to break the spell and save James?
Then she finds
the diary.
This is a
mesmerising, magical tale. A story of love and mystery told in lyrical
prose. It carries themes of friendship
and trust; community and sharing. There is a search, a journey, and a discovery
that demonstrates how tightly the past is tied to the present and the future.
The story is
powerful; elemental and environmental, filled with an energy that comes from
the children’s characters, and that stems from their passion for the natural
world that surrounds them. It focuses on the importance of living things, and
reflects on how things aren’t always how they appear.
Quite a lot in
one book, you may say. I loved this book: the storyline, characters, settings,
images, descriptions and language. It’s perfect in every way. Alice Hoffman has
a gift, and each book she writes is her gift to her readers.
Reviewed by
Anastasia Gonis
Title: Night Bird
Author: Alice Hoffman
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: April 2015 $16.99RRP
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781471124211
Type: Teenage Fiction
