Sally J. Pla

First sentence: I learned this great calm-down trick recently. It was the end-of-the-year seventh-grade dance, back in Houston, which is where I live during the school year with my mom and stepdad.

Premise/plot: Maudie McGinn looks forward to spending summers with her dad in California, but a wildfire destroys "plan A" and the two quickly come up with a "plan B." Maudie didn't plan on spending her summer learning to surf while her father hunts for a job. But ANYTHING is better than having to spend the summer with her mother and stepfather instead. Will Maudie share her deepest, darkest secret by the time the summer is over?

My thoughts: Maudie has autism but that is not the whole story; that is not what the whole book revolves around. I love seeing Maudie begin to live life more fully and freely. The book does have a happily-ever-after, rosy ending, BUT, only after much worry and angst. Maudie does deserve some happiness after living with her stepfather for several years and enduring much cruelty.

I do think most of the characters fall into two categories--either perfectly perfect saints or dastardly villains. But overall I enjoyed this one very much.… (more)

I listened to the audiobook of [b:The Goldfish Boy|26891408|The Goldfish Boy|Lisa Thompson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1469730951s/26891408.jpg|46942352] at the same time I was reading this. I prefer Goldfish Boy by a lot. So it's hard for me to say how I'd feel about Someday Birds if Goldfish Boy wasn't so similar and, in my opinion, superior. Both books are about 12-year-old boys who wash their hands compulsively. And both of the boys are kind of desperate to meet a goal (to find a missing boy / to find a bunch of birds). Both books have first-person narration. They are both thematically about the boy being brave in the face of tremendous (though irrational) fear.

Some stray criticisms:
- I thought Charlie finding Tiberius Shaw's personal journal was a bit too magical for an otherwise realistic book.

-Ludmila's story felt a bit shoehorned in - as if the author really wanted her readers to know about Sarajevo, rather than it serving the story.

Some stray appreciations:
-Charlie is a likable character and his love of chicken nuggets is endearing. Readers will root for him.

-I always love a sweet dog sidekick.

-The Tiberius Shaw quotes at the beginning of each chapter were beautifully written and relevant to the action.… (more)