Bird in a Box by Andrea Davis Pinkney

Bird in a Box Reviews

• 
  Margo Tanenbaum

  Set in 1936 at the height of the Great Depression Bird in the Box is described by the author as mostly a book about the power of the human spirit and of how one man's triumph brought glory to so many people This moving novel weaves together the story of three different children in Elmira New York the sassy Hibernia the daughter of a reverend whose mama ran away to New York City right after she was born with dreams of being a jazz singer; Willie who lives with his abusive drunk father and his suffering mama while he dreams of being a boxer like his idol Joe Louis; and Otis an orphan whose parents were killed in a tragic accident and who keeps their memories alive by remembering his father's riddle jokes All three children idolize Joe Lewis the Brown Bomber As Otis' ma tells himWhen Joe Louis fights it's than just throwing punches Otis That boy's fighting for the pride of Negroes When he loses every colored man loses a little piece of his own prideAndrea Pinkney captures the uniue voice of each of the three narrators whose lives converge at the Mercy home for Negro Orphans where Willie's mother sends him to escape the abuse of his violent fathers At Mercy he becomes friends with Otis as the two bond over Otis' Philco radio Hibernia meets the boys while singing with the church choir at a special holiday performance for the orphans A stray cat the boys name Bird joins their ersatz family and before you know it they're all gathered by the radio listening to Joe Louis' championship fight By using actual transcripts from radio broadcasts of Joe Louis' boxing matches Pinkney provides an immediacy to her descriptions as we can feel the excitement of the children listening to the matches on the radio This book is filled with appealing characters from the three children to the supporting cast from the strict Reverend to the kind Lila who works at the orphanage Pinkney skillfully weaves in historical information about Joe Louis a key figure in African American history and as Pinkney describes him in her author's note a strong and beautiful symbol of hope The author's note includes biographical information on Joe Louis as well as information on her great grandfather an amateur boxer in Elmira New York who was the model for the character of Willie in this novel
• 
  Ari

  While Hibernia is annoying she has a distinctive voice in contrast to Otis and Willie whom I kept mixing up The voices of Otis and Willie blended together I knew that one of them had scarred hands and that the other was an actual orphan but I could rarely remember who was who Further there was no character development no growth in maturity and Otis was a saint As it was Otis and Willie had to grow up fast but then their growth stagnated I'm not even sure why Hibernia was in the story to be perfectly honest She wasn't living at the orphanage and I think her character would have been interesting if she was actually an orphan and set off to pursue her dreams I wasn't thrilled by the dialogue and descriptions either Phrases such as it's as if a mighty hand is yanking the room to its feet pg 253 and Carmen turns her voice in popcorn blips I backflip the melody into flatted riffs pg 228 made the book seem like it was trying to hard to be creative with words I don't even know what a 'flatted riff' is The flashbacks were stiff and I didn't understand why the story couldn't just start at the beginning instead of a year later as a teaser it was rather ineffective Finally the narrative would abruptly end at points and never be revisited such as when SPOILER highlight to read The boys get the radio back from the bleach man I refuse to believe the bleach man wouldn't know it was them so why was no mention made of their punishment?End spoilerOccasionally the creative wordingdescriptions worked well such as when Hibernia put pepper on that tune pg 227 I loved the details about the radio though I really did get the impression that this was the Golden Age of Radio the commentators had personality and it was easy to see through the author's words how the radio programs affected the listeners The variety of programs was shown ranging from jazz music to of course the Joe Louis fights The other historical tidbits gel uite well with the fictional characters places and events there is a real sense of time and place The illustrations were lovely simple but expressive The only character who became fully fleshed out in my opinion was Lila the orphanage worker She was a doll tough when needed but always ready to give the children a hug she has a tough past but doesn't wallow in depression Although I would like to know why she randomly showed up at Hibernia's churchBird in a Box left uestions in my mind than answers except when it came to the importance of radio during the 1930s Storylines were abruptly ended and the three children had interesting backgrounds but remained flat with no development I don't much about the 1930s but all the facts seemed to be in order to me the town of Elmira New York came to life A town that was filled with people who wanted to work but couldn't find jobs and yet still mustered up the cheer to DRESS UP I mean that in the best of ways for church Personally I wish the story had actually taken place in the exciting New York City but at least Elmira developed a presence in my mind and I could understand Hibernia's frustration with the town A hit or miss read I think
• 
  Doret

  The story takes place in 1936during the middle of the great depression The three main characters are 12yr old Otis Willie and Hibernia At the beginning the three have yet to meet All of them are fans of Joe Louis The author enterwines some of the fights throughout the story With so much going wrong the great fighter gives the three someone to hope and believe in Hibernia lives with her father a reverend Her mother left to follow her dream to sing at the Savoy Willie is forced to leave home after a terrible incident with his abusive father Soon Otis must go live at Mercy Home For Negro Orphans as well That's where the two meetThe chapters alternate between the three characters Sometimes this can be tricky especially when dealing with then two characters The author runs the risk of not developing the characters or storylines enough After one characters scene would end I'd still have uestions When the story returned to that particular character it was already onto something new After the last awful encounter with his father Willie goes to live at Mercy When he arrives Lily the woman working there tells him he needs some salve The next time Willie appears there's drastic change without an explanation The salve didn't work This happens then once It felt like I was missing important parts of the story Hibernia's father is set in his ways and very strict Yet one day he simply decides to open up and talk about Hibernia's mother Again I wondered about the why of this The characters voices were blending together I think part of it had to do with the short chapters but I had a difficult time distinguishing between Otis and Willie Pinkney has a great body of work All the books I've read by her I've loved I went into Bird in a Box a book I was really looking forward to wondering not if but how much I would enjoy it So I was surprised that it simply didn't work for me Bird is Box is being very well recieved by other bloggers It also got a starred Kirkus review
• 
  Marla

  I really enjoyed reading this book as every chapter showed different perspectives on the same situation Hibernia Otis Will The book started off slightly confusing however once I found connections between all three characters it was easier to understand This book definitely emphasises a lot on racism and no freedom to do what you wish Bird In a Box I recommend this book to anyone that likes to read stories about racist issues and the right to receive freedom I also recommend this book to anyone that likes to read about friendship and strong connections that are formed through tough times
• 
  Hannahlily

  The historical setting is nicely done and the plot is sweet and entertaining although everything wraps up a bit too neatly and positively to be believable Characterization is sometimes erratic Willie and Otis’s voices are too similar at times and Hibernia’s father’s personality completely changes with very little reason Hibernia is supposed to be “sassy” I think but she came off as unexplainably narcissistic to me
• 
  N

  Hibernia Otis and Willie take turns narrating this short novel set in 1937 The three young characters refuse to be defeated by difficult circumstances and as things move along their stories being to intertwine In the background is the blossoming of jazz on the radio and the rise to fame of boxing star Joe Louis
• 
  Denise Smith

  It started slow but gained momentum once I realized there was a connection between the main characters As different as we seem there are things that bind usThe history facts at the end were very interesting and I'm not a big boxing fan
• 
  Edi

  I really do think MG books can and should develop characters
• 
  Lily

  The book Bird in a Box covers the overall theme of boxing and the famed boxer Joe Lewis in Depression era New York City The beginning of the book prepares the reader for the journey they will go on in the rest of the story introducing them to three main characters Hibernia Otis and Willie Bird in a Box is a story about how people can overcome their difficulties and find purpose in their lives It covers feelings of abandonment as well as pain and loss The story is told in the point of view of three African American children each about 12 years old who were living in New York at the time this story takes place All of the kids aspire to be like Joe Lewis At the end of this story I like how the author answered some of the suggested uestions that were presented in the book but I would have liked to see the story continue As an avid reader I did not think this book was particularly impressive There are many parallels between the rebellious nature of children and the spirit of persistence implying that even when life beats you down you still have to get up and fight The story focuses on the idea of ​​having an idol throughout history as Joe Louis is the kids' idol In the book Joe Lewis represented the hope of the African American community at the point where they were considered second class citizens and were being condemned To conclude I think all kinds of students would enjoy Bird in a Box the story delights the reader and create a whole world new world that is relevant and accessible to anyone who chooses to read it
• 
  Sharon

  This book is shelved in the juvenile section of our library but is one that adults will also appreciate Set during the Great Depression and featuring three children who become connected partly through love of radio and boxing Joe Louis Hibernia listens to Harlem's Savoy Ballroom music on the radio and aspires to sing there Otis listens constantly to the radio which reminds him of his parents and Willie recovering from tragedy loves boxing You won't forget this book