Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Extraordinary Birds
    Unavailable
    Extraordinary Birds
    Unavailable
    Extraordinary Birds
    Ebook181 pages3 hours

    Extraordinary Birds

    By Sandy Stark-McGinnis

    3.5/5

    ()

    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this ebook

    Eleven-year-old December knows everything about birds, and everything about getting kicked out of foster homes. All she has of her biological mum is the book she left behind, The Complete Guide to Birds, Volume One, and a photo with a message: 'In flight is where you'll find me.' December knows she's truly a bird, just waiting for the day she transforms and flies away to reunite with her mum. The scar on her back must be where her wings have started to blossom – she just needs to practise and to find the right tree. She has no choice; it's the only story that makes sense.

    When she's placed with Eleanor, a new foster mum who runs a taxidermy business and volunteers at a wildlife rescue, December begins to see herself and what home means in a new light. But the story she tells herself about her past is what's kept December going this long, and she doesn't know if she can let go of it ... even if changing her story might mean that she can finally find a place where she belongs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateApr 30, 2019
    ISBN9781526603142
    Unavailable
    Extraordinary Birds

    Related to Extraordinary Birds

    Related ebooks

    Children's Family For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      MY SISTER-IN-LAW Had My Baby!

      Oct 27, 2021

      Jennifer Robertson, 45, Gold Coast, Qld Sitting on my bed with another negative pregnancy test, my heart swelled with sadness. ‘Why isn’t it happening for us?’ I asked my husband, Craig, through tears. We’d been trying to fall pregnant since our we

      3 min read

    • Article

      Let Him Rot!

      Dec 20, 2022

      Let Him Rot!
      4 min read

    • Article

      CELEBRITY Gossip

      Feb 2, 2022

      Ever since her music career has taken off fans have been wondering whether Olivia Rodrigo will return for season three of Disney’s High School Musical, The Muscial, The Series. Well, wonder no more because Olivia has confirmed that she will be back f

      2 min read

    • Article

      August’s BOOK CLUB

      Jul 7, 2022

      Joan by Katherine J Chen (£16.99, HB, Hodder & Stoughton) In this inspired, lyrical reimagining of Joan of Arc’s life, the author transports us inside the head of a young woman whose divinely inspired military gifts were viewed with awe and suspicio

      2 min read

    • Article

      In His hands

      Oct 28, 2021

      In His hands
      2 min read

    • Article

      My Father The Murderer

      May 19, 2021

      My Father The Murderer
      9 min read

    • Article

      Winning Letter

      Nov 18, 2022

      The sweet, loyal lady who’s worked for our family for many years is a longtime resident of the Masiphumelele informal settlement near Cape Town. She’s lost her shack to fire eight times. She’s woken up regularly in the middle of the night with shouts

      5 min read

    • Article

      Riccardo

      Jun 14, 2022

      My understanding of my family’s religion was that we didn’t have to go to church if we didn’t want to and that our belief in God was tenuous at best. I grasped the seventh principle, “the interconnected web of all existence,” and I understood the hum

      14 min read

    • Article

      Salad Maker

      Dec 10, 2020

      Salad Maker
      6 min read

    • Article

      We’ve Been Married 80 YEARS!

      Apr 19, 2023

      As I milked a cow, a cheeky face popped up over the farm fence. ‘You’re the girl for me! I’m coming back to get you, Freda,’ he said with a wry smile, setting my heart aflutter. The flirtatious fella was Frank Weidenbohm. He’d been working cutting sl

      3 min read

    • Article

      DEATH’S Angles

      Jun 8, 2021

      DEATH’S Angles
      4 min read

    • Article

      My Father-in-law... The Zodiac Killer?

      Nov 7, 2021

      The phone call Michelle Wynn received from her son seven years ago was shocking, but it made a lot of sense. In fact, it helped piece together a puzzle she’d long been wondering about. In the call, Michelle’s son told her that the FBI had been talki

      3 min read

    • Article

      All For nothing

      Jun 1, 2023

      All For nothing
      4 min read

    • Article

      39-YEAR AGE GAP… Now we have TWINS!

      Oct 6, 2021

      Samantha Delmege, 37, Sydney, NSW I watched quietly as mourners dressed in black milled around the room. I’d just given a eulogy at my good friend Max’s funeral. I hope I did him proud, I thought. Now, at the wake, I was feeling emotional. Then, a

      3 min read

    • Article

      Our Extra Special twins

      Nov 9, 2023

      Our Extra Special twins
      3 min read

    • Article

      BABY SURPRISE I had NO CLUE I was due!

      Dec 1, 2021

      Karla Akuhata, 41, Rotorua, NZ As I lay in bed, I felt another wave of excruciating cramps. I tried to breathe in and out slowly as I fought the dizzying pain. I guess my period’s almost here, I thought, feeling miserable. For the last 48 hours, I

      3 min read

    • Article

      My girl was SAVED BY A BRUISE

      Sep 1, 2021

      Christine Wheeler, 26, Weipa, Qld As the text flashed up on my phone, I saw it was from my daughter’s day care. Charlie’s fallen over but she’s okay, it read. Because of that last part, I wasn’t too worried about my lively two-year-old. And when

      3 min read

    • Article

      Ed’s Letter

      Oct 7, 2021

      Hi friends, Okay - so imagine life without embarrassing moments. At first, sure, you think it’s a good thing, but really I think life would be so boring! I mean, getting caught in an embarrassing situation is not at all fun, but the thing about OMG m

      1 min read

    • Article

      My bestie gave Me A Baby!

      Oct 5, 2023

      My bestie gave Me A Baby!
      3 min read

    • Article

      Friend Or Foe?

      Aug 24, 2023

      Sitting on the grass beside my girlfriend Grace, I spotted a familiar face approaching from across the park. ‘Can I join you?’ Chelsea, then 17, smiled, plonking herself down. It was March 2018 and I’d been with Grace, then 16, for six months. I was

      4 min read

    • Article

      Blind Panic

      May 20, 2021

      Blind Panic
      4 min read

    • Article

      MUM IS MISSING Liane Moriarty

      Sep 8, 2021

      MUM IS MISSING Liane Moriarty
      7 min read

    • Article

      NOT SO the FANTASTIC PLASTIC

      Dec 23, 2022

      NOT SO the FANTASTIC PLASTIC
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Extraordinary Birds

    3.5/5

    8 ratings2 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      December touches the reader’s heart, as she moves to yet another foster home and has lost trust in people. Throughout the book, the reader learns a bit more about a variety of birds, as December believes she is a bird. December believes she has wings which will come through the scar on her back. Both her foster Mom, Eleanor and December learn so much about life together. Highly recommend! #ExtraordinaryBirds #NetGalley
    • 3/5
      December loves birds. She knows a lot of facts about birds and even has memorized which birds appear on what pages in her bird encyclopedia. Birds are her refuge and escape, so much so that she believes she will become a bird and fly away, once the wings sprout from the scars on her back. At 11 years old, her life is troubled, having lived in 11 foster homes by the time she is placed with Eleanor. Will she be any different from the previous foster parents or will December’s wings finally grow so she can fly away? The metaphorical bird and trust-building themes felt overdone, obvious, heavy-handed. When Eleanor informs December that she is going to help train an injured hawk, you know already that she can do it.