Birdie's Bargain
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
In a poignant and unflinching new realistic novel from the Newbery Medal–winning author of Bridge to Terabithia, a ten-year-old girl makes a deal with God for her father's safe return from the Iraq War. Birdie has questions for God. For starters, why couldn’t God roll history back to September 10, 2001, and fix things—so the next day was an ordinary sunny day and not the devastating lead-in to two wars? Daddy has already been to Iraq twice. Now he’s going again, and Birdie is sure he’ll die. At the very least, she won’t see him again for a year, and everything will not be OK. (Why do grown-ups lie?) To save money, she, Mom, and baby Billy have moved to Gran’s, where shy Birdie must attend a new school, and no one but bossy Alicia Marie Suggs welcomes her. Doesn’t God remember how hard it was for Birdie to make friends at Bible Camp? Counselor Ron taught about Judgment there—and the right way to believe. Has Birdie been praying wrong? Why else would God break their bargain? Readers of all faiths and backgrounds, especially children of military families, will identify with and root for the unforgettable Birdie, given inimitable voice by a master storyteller.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
