Strange Birds – A Field Guide to Ruffling Feathers by Celia C. Perez

Synopsis:

When three very different girls find a mysterious invitation to a lavish mansion, the promise of adventure and mischief is too intriguing to pass up.

Ofelia Castillo (a budding journalist), Aster Douglas (a bookish foodie), and Cat Garcia (a rule-abiding birdwatcher) meet the kid behind the invite, Lane DiSanti, and it isn't love at first sight. But they soon bond over a shared mission to get the Floras, their local Scouts, to ditch an outdated tradition. In their quest for justice, independence, and an unforgettable summer, the girls form their own troop and find something they didn't know they needed: sisterhood.

A very intriguing book, one that deals with so many issues in the world today, and it was through a well written children’s book. I picked this book out from the library shelf because of it’s title and the implication that it was about birds. I enjoy reading books that has the potential of people befriending animals, or any creatures, and this one seemed pretty likely to be one of those kinds.

Well, I couldn’t be more wrong. This was the first book written by Celia C. Perez I’ve read and it has impressed me enough to entice me towards the others in her repertoire. Strange Birds is more than just a narrative of a group of girls’ problems, but a written example of what many people in the real world face. As such, it isn’t just a realistic fiction, it’s a form of realism art. Well…in my opinion at least.

Lane, or Purslane, is a girl whose parents are divorced, and she was sent to stay with her grandmother, Mrs DiSanti. She needed friends, and someone to share an adventure with. She needed understanding, and a way to distract herself. She left three discreet invitations around to her treehouse, with the intention to form a secret scout troop. Although she didn’t think it all the way through, and the planning left much to be desired, she succeeded, and brought three other girls and her all together.

Ofelia wants to be a journalist, and she wants to apply for a Qwerty Sholes Journalism Contest that would give her an opportunity to work with many professional and well-known journalists to create a magazine if she wins. For that, she needs a story, a good headline, and the truth. Her parents are both very protective though, and she feels like she was being very restricted by their stubborn refusal to let her have a bit of independence.

Cat has always been a good little girl and a daughter who does what her parents say. As one of the Floras, she takes part in selling brownies and fund building as her mother liked her to do. But she loves birds, and when she realizes the hat with a flamingo feather that the Floras uses as a representation came from bird hunting, she couldn’t abide by the group anymore. She wanted out.

Aster is a girl I had trouble understanding the most. Probably because I had never been in her position, nor will I ever be. Her parents are both away, and she had been homeschooled since young by her grandfather. She has little experience with friends, and her interaction are mostly with adults. Her thought and speech patterns are much more mature than the other three girls and she sees a larger picture most often compared to the other three as well.

As much as each of these girls seemed to have planned and thought out their escapades, they were still only children, and that restricts their views and methods they could come up with to solve a problem. They are, however, incredibly brave in doing what they felt was right and what they believed in.

I particularly love how each of them are so different in character, but they somehow overcame their differences and stayed together. Their bond was forged out of curiosity and their own agendas, but strengthened with one goal and adventure, as well as their own fortitude to accept people from different backgrounds and races.

Strange Birds touched on topics like bird protection, truth, equality, friendship and justice. They all seemed like such huge topics, and any expert would be able to come up with amazing arguments and points in their favour, yet reading this book makes everything so easily believable and it shows how different people have such different consequences and stakes even if they are doing the same thing. I particularly love how Mrs DiSanti said “You make assumptions about me, Mr. Douglas, when you think I care more about a legacy than the truth.” That points out that even though one side has been oppressed, but that doesn’t mean the oppressed didn’t have some form of assumptions made regarding the other group of people as well.

“Bueno, read, be bored,” Mrs. Castillo said. “It’s not the worst thing in the world.”