Marie-Francine Hebert

I discovered this little book at a library sale. It was a thin, small little book and sounded interesting from the cover description. This little innocent looking book deals with some heavy hitting topics. Racism, sexual abuse, alcoholism, among other things.

Mona and Bird are let to their own devices just about all the time in this book. Mona is constantly told "go watch your sister". Mona does her best to keep Bird from climbing too high in the trees, for fear she will fall and injure herself.

It's discussed how Bird's mind is lagging behind her physical age. However, I thought of the characters Bird was insightful and wise beyond her years. She climbs trees escaping the live below. If only she could get to the other side of the sky. It was sad to see these two rag-a-muffin girls slog through life with little love or joy. Not much in the way of role models among the adults surrounding them either.

This book is touching and inspiring to see how Mona and Bird finally handle the incident they've witnessed.
My favorite line: "This time our gift comes from life itself and is served up on a tray of stars."

Worth checking out for sure. I would say due to the delicate nature of some of the themes, 13 and up is my recommended age. I'm giving it 3 1/2 tender kisses.… (mer)