Synopsis
At first it looks like a small gray ball of fluff, its head a cloud of frizzy feathers, fine as dandelion seeds. The baby bird isn't even strong enough to spread its wings, but ten-year-old Nick is determined to save it. Together with his best friend, he coaxes the wild bird he names Marcy to eat worms and take rides on their fingers. Then he watches, amazed, as she finally opens her wings - and flies! As Marcy grows, so does Nick - forced to make some hard choices about friends and family. And for the first time he dares to ask questions about the death of his soldier father. But other questions loom in the air: Will Marcy try to fly away? And will Nick be able to let her go?
Beautifully rendered drawings capture the poignancy and joy of this unforgettable story about growing up, loving, and letting go.
Children's Literature
In June 1960 Nick finds a baby mockingbird in the middle of the road and carries it home. "It wasn't particularly beautiful or cuddly, but holding it made me shiver inside. It seemed like so much to carry, and at the same time so little and so light." Nick and his widowed mother try to get the bird to eat but at first it refuses. While they sit in the shed with the bird in the wee hours of the night, Nick asks about how his father died in the Korean War. As the sun rises the next morning, the bird, which Nick names Marcy, squawks and then swallows a worm that Nick has dug for her. Over the summer Nick and Marcy become inseparable. When Nick has to leave Marcy for a week at the end of the summer while he and his mother go to the lake with his cousins, Nick knows Marcy may not be there when he returns. Poetic and tender, powerful yet not sentimental, this story about a boy, about loss, and about the natural world around him is universal and unforgettable. Pencil illustrations capture the timeless images of a boy and his family and realistically portray the mockingbird that forever changes the boy's life.