Wild Bird by Wendelin Van Draanen

Pages: 311

Intended Audience: Teens and mature tweens

Genre: Contemporary / Social Issues

Notes for Parents: Contains some mature scenes.

The Back Cover

Eight weeks of survivalist camping in the desert. Eight weeks to turn your life around. Year, right.

3:47 a.m. That’s when they come for Wren Clemmens. She’s hustled out of her house and into a waiting car, then a plane, and then taken on a forced march into the desert. This is what happens to kids who’ve gone so far off the rails, their parents don’t know what to do with them anymore. This is wilderness therapy camp.

The Wren who arrives in the Utah desert is angry and bitter, and blaming everyone but herself. But angry can’t put up a tent. And bitter won’t start a fire. It looks like Wren’s going to have to admit she needs help if she wants to survive out here…

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

Wild Bird has been nominated for the Evergreen Teen Book Award (2020) and the Rebecca Caudil Young Readers’ Book Award (2020).

What’s good?

Wren is a believable protagonist who starts the story as an angry, lonely, impassive girl who deals with life using drugs and alcohol. Forced to examine her life, she reflects on her relationships and the choices that led her to the present. The chapters are short – they average about 5 or 6 pages each – and the pace is steady, making this a quick and easy read. The plot is simple, yet engaging, and the characters are well-drawn (though I would have liked to know more about the secondary characters). There’s raw emotion and introspection touching on themes like self-respect, honesty, loneliness, choices, and personal growth. Despite the tough subject, the story always remains hopeful.

Best Part: “…she cuts me open with the things I’ve told her and leaves me alone to bleed.” (pg. 186)

What isn’t good?

The story was predictable, and the ending was tied with a nice little bow, but to be fair, there’s only a couple of ways this could have gone, and I would have been disappointed if it had ended differently.

Worst part: Nothing terrible.

Recommendation ☺☺☺☺ (4/5)

I stayed up until 2 a.m. to finish this novel even though I was pretty sure I knew how it would end (and I was right). Wren had a vulnerability that made me really care about her and I wanted to see her through to the end. This was an easy read and very enjoyable. Author has a lovely writing style and crafts metaphors like a boss. Definitely recommended.

Van Draanen, Wendelin. Wild Bird. New York: Ember, 2017.