The Nature of Small Birds, by Susie Finkbeiner, 2021, Revell (Baker Publishing Group)

It’s not actually a bird book.

The era subsequent to the Vietnam war in the United States is full of edgy racial integration. The Nature of Small Birds isn’t really a bird book–it’s a story of a girl from Viet Nam adopted into an American family. I enjoy watching the various birds that come to Vancouver Island, but am not really interested enough to buy another book about them.

It’s about adoption. Americans fight their enemies, then adopt their children.

When Revell presented me with a choice of books to review, I saw that this one was actually about an adopted girl from Viet Nam. One of her names means ‘bird’, and the author seems fascinated by birds.

Themes of family and adoption and Asia interest me. The back cover blurb says the girl plans to return to Viet Nam to find her birth mother. That sounded intriguing. What adventures in Viet Nam would it entail? But as I read on and on, every so often Mindy’s thoughts of returning to Viet Nam were touched on, but never got very far until the very end. We never do find out how it goes.

It’s about the era subsequent to the Vietnam war.

The book reads like three diaries–of the father, mother, and sister of the adopted girl. The timeline of the diaries alternates between 1975, 1988, and 2013, finally ending in 2014. It’s the story of how they came to adopt Mindy, and grew to love her. How she adapted to them, but kept her birth mother and homeland in her heart.

I like the writing style. It’s not hard to follow, and there are lots of homey details that I could relate to, about relationships, food, popular music, humble houses and cars. We see through three points of view, and are able to understand how Mindy and other characters feel through these.

Mainly, the story is a snapshot of the era subsequent to the Viet Nam war, in the United States. If you find the era and family vignettes evocative, you will like this book. If you’re looking for a suspenseful plot, that you will not find. Nor much information about actual birds.

Author’s website.

Susie Finkbeiner is the award-winning author of several books. She welcomes people to get to know her on her website at SusieFinkbeiner.com.

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