For the Birds

A magical middle-grade adventure from legendary author Margaret Atwood, following a young girl who transforms into a migrating bird and discovers the dangers facing wildlife across the Americas

Samantha doesn’t think much about birds. To her, they’re just noisy creatures she and her cat, Furball, enjoy chasing.

But everything changes when her mysterious neighbor, Ms. Phoebe Merganser, takes Samantha on a journey unlike any she has ever imagined. Suddenly Samantha finds herself transformed into a bird and embarking on an epic migration.

From the forests of Canada across North America and deep into the Amazon rainforest, Samantha experiences the world as birds do: facing storms, predators, and the many dangers created by humans along the way.

As Samantha flies farther than she ever thought possible, she begins to understand a powerful truth: when birds are in danger, the whole planet is at risk.

This beautifully reimagined edition features sumptuous full-color illustrations throughout, a new foreword by Margaret Atwood herself, and fascinating nonfiction notes by the Urban Birder, David Lindo.

Blending adventure, imagination, and environmental insight, For the Birds is a timeless story about nature, responsibility, and the fragile connections that bind all living things from one of the world’s most celebrated authors.