"I'm sick of having to feel lucky and patient. I just want to feel NORMAL. I don't want to limp. I want to stop being different. And I want to be in the stupid race!"
Alba has been born with a club foot. She is in fourth grade and has endured many surgeries and years of pain. The final surgery is now completed and Alba is about to see her repaired foot for the first time. Alba watches the other girls, especially Miranda Gray. She longs to be as popular and carefree and beautiful as Miranda. Alba has a really good friend. A boy called Levi. He has serious asthma issues and so these friends spend their lunch periods inside the school because Alba feels she cannot play the games enjoyed by the others and Levi because he needs to take care in case he has a serious asthma attack.
Being inside Levi and Alba witness a mystery. Their librarian seems to disappear each day at lunch time. Her office lights are off and the room is empty and then she seems to suddenly appear out of nowhere. Levi is convinced Ms Sharma has discovered a wormhole.
Both Levi and Alba love birds. They have completed a class research assignment on hummingbirds. Alba can see lots of parallels between her own experiences and the life of the hummingbird.
We meet, very briefly, a very interesting character in this story called Abigail. She offers beautiful heartfelt wisdom to Alba. I do hope Michelle Kadarusman has plans to tell us more about Abigail. The relationship between Alba and her doctor is also very special and there is a hint of a love story between doctor Schofield and Alba's mum.
As is the way with all relationships Alba and Levi have a serious "falling out". Days go by until Alba discovers a note in her room. Someone has sent her a very special story - a legend about the hummingbird - and this story gives her the courage to chase her dream and apologise to her precious friend.
I've seen this book praised on several book lists but I confess I was confused. I seem to have read a few books lately which feature hummingbirds such as The Secret Library of Hummingbird House.
This book has such a sweet ending. I think it will be enjoyed by readers aged 9+. The cover of the Australian edition of The Theory of Hummingbirds is by Tasmanian illustrator Julie Hunt. I found some other cover designs for The Theory of Hummingbirds.
Here is an interview with Michelle Kadarusman where she shares some hints for writers. And in this interview Michelle talks with Joy Lawn at Paperbark Words. Michelle grew up in Melbourne, lived in Indonesia and she now calls Toronto Canada her home. In this video Megan Daley talks about The Theory of Humming birds and reads the blurb.
Megan Daley: "This is an own voices story." "It has a real authenticity ... the authenticity and the lightness of this book were the strengths." "An exploration of a really beautiful friendship."
One part of this book that made me smile came when Michelle shared some library wisdom. Naturally I love stories with kind and special teacher-librarians like Ms Sharma:
"Is there a better place to be than two pages into a good book."
"Today's Science Fiction is tomorrow's science fact."
No comments:
Post a Comment