BIRD BOY

Chang, mute from birth but able to imitate bird sounds, is thrilled when his father, a cormorant fisherman, decides he’s old enough to help with the “Big Catch,” a night when thousands of fish gather in one particular spot on the Li River in southern China. Chang does so well that he is then allowed to help raise a cormorant chick. When a local bully, Jinan, steals it, Chang must stand up for himself, rescue the bird, nurse it back to life, and protect it. The story is almost incidental to the fascinating world the author depicts: Chang’s family lives on a houseboat and uses trained cormorants to catch the fish for them. The details of this, and of the raising of the cormorant chick, are enthralling, and outside the experience and knowledge of most US children. As an introduction to a remote, intriguing world, this novella will capture the imagination and curiosity of young readers. (Fiction. 8-12)