Bird Boy

‎ Sent to live with his uncle in the Lake District, Will is faced with a life far removed from the one he is used to. When he makes friends with Omar, a refugee from Afghanistan, he finds the confidence to explore and the two boys discover an osprey nest. As they watch the birds, naming them, Will feels a deep connection with the smallest chick, Whitetip, so when, on a stormy night, Whitetip is knocked out of the nest, Will is determined to save her.

Catherine Bruton is well known for her empathetic, sensitive books and in ‘Bird Boy’, she has excelled herself. This is a story about migration- for humans and birds- about starting again, about healing, about hope. Deeply poignant in places, the story is written with great honesty and tenderness.

In Will, Catherine has done an amazing job of portraying a traumatised child, offering the reader glimpses of the life he has had with his mother and the strategies he has adopted to help himself cope. Struggling to come to terms with his recent bereavement, he is taken from all he knows to live with an uncle he barely knew existed whilst a new life with grandparents he has never met on the other side of the world. The beauty and solace of the mountains, the friendship he finds with Omar – and the local community- and the desire to save the helpless chick, all help Will to begin to heal and find a new sense of peace.

There is so much to recommend this book. I sobbed in places, gasped in others and ultimately, felt uplifted and hopeful for Will’s future- and that of Omar and the ospreys. It is an incredibly powerful, beautifully executed story- not to be missed.

Bird Boy

Catherine Bruton

Nosy Crow    ISBN:  978-1839946493

You can read my review of ‘No Ballet Shoes in Syria’ here and ‘Another Twist in the Tale’ here.