THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF BIRDS

THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF BIRDS by Lynne Kelly

Nina is trying to find her place in the world. She struggles to fit in at school. She struggles to fit in at home. Her aunt has been trying to get her to come to the summer camp she runs, and for a while Nina hasn't considered it, but something needs to change. She needs to find her place, and maybe summer camp is it.

Settling into her cabin with the other campers, Nina and the girls decide to do the secret tradition of sneaking out at night to an old, run-down infirmary on the camp property where supposedly a ghost of a camper who passed away from tuberculosis haunts. The infirmary is located out of the way, off an abandoned trail that looks out over a large marsh area. Making their way inside the collapsing building, the girls notice a large window that overlooks the marsh. They make their way over to look out it shining their flashlight beams around. It's a moment of horrific shock when the beams catch a large white figure. Convinced at first that they are seeing a ghost it's an immediate panic until they notice that the "ghost" has feathers. What they've actually found is an endangered pair of whooping cranes, but that's impossible, because whooping cranes haven't been seen in the area for a very long time. Something this amazing needs to be kept a secret especially if they're nesting, right? But that's almost impossible to do at summer camp!

This is a really great story! I am finding that I am a huge fan of Lynne Kelly and her writing style that pairs kids in difficult situations coming into contact with unique animals in nature.

HEADS UP - The book does mention the story of a girl named Josephine who came down with tuberculosis while at camp. The rumor is that she haunts the camp as a result. SPOLIER ALFERT Obviously, there is no ghost, but the girls do discover that the story is true. There was a girl named Josephine at camp who died of TB many years ago.

There is also a scene where the girls are discussing possums and the fact that mother possums can have around 13 nipples. They joke about what it would be like to have 13 nipples and what the bra would look like to handle all of that. It's a short conversation.