Reviews for Postcards for a songbird

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Wren feels abandoned by those she loves: her mother, her sister, and her only friend. Even her police officer father has left, in a way, though he still comes home after his night shift to drink beer and watch Wheel of Fortune with her. As Wren forms new bonds with people, including two queer young women and a boy who is open about his feelings of attraction toward her, she is nervous about trusting those relationships even as they grow stronger. What if everyone she cares for ends up going away? It's not until she starts questioning the past more carefully that she begins to learn the truth behind the disappearances of her mother and sister and is able to make decisions based on a far more complete family history. But change hurts as Wren comes to terms with the roles her parents played in dismantling the family unit. An earnest exploration of the demise of a family, this book captures the sense of disconnect a teen can feel when buffeted by changing winds. While the language tends toward the dreamy and dramatic ("I shouldn't let doubt creep up on me like the cold chill of a familiar ghost"), the characters are well-developed, complex, and intriguing. Main characters are assumed white apart from one of Wren's friends who is Latinx.A finely crafted story of the healing that can happen when family secrets rise to the surface. (Fiction. 13-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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