A BIRD WILL SOAR

A bird-obsessed autistic boy in rural Pennsylvania finds a fallen eaglet after a storm.

Axel lives in a strange and tiny cottage in the woods with his mother, Byrd. He doesn’t know why his dad doesn’t come around anymore, but Axel has a large family anyway; the older folks on whose land their cottage sits have long since decided that families are much bigger than genetics dictate. He knows what he likes: Ray, his dog best friend; orderly schedules; and helping the ornithologist at the Delaware Valley Raptor Sanctuary. A storm brings far too many changes, smashing a tree through Axel’s house (terrible), leaving an eaglet in need of rescue (exciting), and bringing Axel’s estranged father back into his life (confusing). Highly figurative prose, packed with symbolism, sometimes accentuates an outsider perspective on Axel’s autism, turning his normal concerns with change, lies, and secrets into metaphors for the rehabilitation of his family. But Axel avoids being a mere literary device: His empathy, his strong emotions, his wonderful relationships with the other autistic people in his life (Daniel, his human best friend, and Dr. Martin, his ornithologist mentor) all keep Axel from being merely a symbol or trope. His being autistic shapes who he is and is not a problem: His struggles are instead about trust, family, community—and birds. Axel reads as White; Daniel is cued as Latinx, and Dr. Martin’s daughter has brown skin.

Poetically portrays the oft-difficult, usually rewarding work of maintaining families of choice and of blood.