Swordbird

It's been ages since I read a book so charming and adorable - it reminded me a lot of books I had read as a child. Maybe it was because Swordbird was written by a 12 year old girl! I find too many contemporary children's or young adult books just are too heavy with a moral message or the author is just trying too hard. Or they don't know their subject matter well enough. Nancy Yi Fan certainly is done of these. Swordbird is about a hawk named Turnatt who wants to build a fortress, but need more slaves to complete it. He decides to pit the blue jays and cardinals against one another to weaken themselves so that he can take them over more easily. It seems like only a large, mystical white bird, Swordbird, can save the cardinals and blue jays from Turnatt.

Part of the charm are the lovely illustrations and a lot of credit goes to the illustrator, Mark Zug, for finding such a natural way for birds to hold swords and bows. I also have the prequel, Sword Quest which I"m sure will be just as good. Thanks to taeha for pointing these books out to me!