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Book Summary

Reviewed by Matt Berman

An evil hawk named Turnatt attempts to rule the forest through brutality and intimidation. He captures birds to be his slaves and build a fortress, and he gets the bluejays and cardinals fighting against one another.

Once they realize they have been tricked, the jays and cardinals unite, but they are still not strong enough to defeat Turnatt and his crow minions. Their only hope is the legend of Swordbird, son of the Great Spirit, who can bring peace. But how can they find him?

Is It Any Good?

3

How should a work such as this, written by 11-year-old Nanci Yi Fan, be considered? As the work of a truly gifted child it is extraordinary -- any middle-school teacher would be thrilled to have a student do work like this, and Fan is certainly a budding talent worth watching for in the future. Is it fair to judge it the same way that novels by adults are judged? On that basis, it is sorely lacking: Stilted prose and sometimes embarrassingly awkward dialogue, a simplistic, derivative plot -- if this had been written by an adult, it is unlikely it would have seen print.

Does that matter? Probably not. Middle-graders will undoubtedly enjoy it (pleasure enhanced by knowing that a kid wrote it), and be inspired by its young author, maybe even to the point of trying some writing of their own. So no harm done, and maybe something to the good.

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