First There Was Bird by Linda Oatman High

A powerful middle-grade reader about eleven-year-old Magnolia’s personal journey of grief and healing as she searches for her lost bird

Magnolia comes from a long line of beauty queens. Crowned as Tiny Miss Magnolia of Mississippi, Magnolia was pushed into beauty pageantry as a baby by her mom, former Miss Magnolia and owner of Delilah’s Delightful Hair, Nails, Teeth, and Tans. 

At eleven, she’s given her first job helping mom sweep hair off the floor and sanitize the sweaty tanning beds. It all sounds wonderful, except Magnolia prefers a plain face and converse sneakers over makeup and fake nails any day. 

The only joy Magnolia feels at the salon comes from her cockatiel, Third Bird, who shouts, “Pretty girl! Pretty girl! Who’s a pretty girl?” Third Bird squawks this particular chant to everyone, including boys and men: it’s the only statement Third Bird knows, taught by Magnolia’s father who tragically died after being hit by a drunk driver.

One morning, Magnolia forgets to latch Third Bird’s cage after feeding, and sadly, Third Bird escapes. Devastated, Magnolia searches for the bird, enlisting her grandma, who declares, “First there was Bird. Then there was Bird-Bird. Then there was Third Bird. And I’ll be danged if there will be a Fourth Bird. We will find that little bird if it’s the last dagum thing we do.” 

Granny and Magnolia search in earnest, yet their rescue stops short when a car sideswipes them on the highway. Thankfully, two strangers stop to help—Jeremiah and his grandmother, Violet.

Jeremiah and his grandmother recently moved from Florida after Jeremiah’s father, a black man, was tragically shot and killed “because it was nighttime, and he was wearing a hoodie. He was walking home and some man pretending to be a cop thought that he looked dangerous.” Bonded by a shared understanding of grief, Jeremiah and Magnolia become friends. As they search for Third Bird, they meet the town’s social outcasts and learn that beauty on the inside is most important.

This book is delicately written, balancing difficult topics with finesse and care. In fact, topics such as grief and racism are layered in respectful humor and lightheartedness, making them easily digestible for kids. For instance, when readers first meet Magnolia, she refuses to even look at the graveyard in which her dad is buried, saying, “I will not look, I will not look, I’ll never look.” However, as she meets Jeremiah and calls their duo the “Dead Daddies Club,” she sets in motion her journey of forgiveness and healing. While the sequential nature of the plot during the search feels a little redundant (i.e., moving from jail to church to feed mill to pet store, and so on), it allows kids to know what to expect next and makes space for them to soak in more influential life lessons, like this one about Magnolia’s dad: “He made me feel beautiful, inside and out. When I was with him, I not only felt good about him, but good about me, too. That’s when you know a friendship is true.” 

First There Was Bird by Linda Oatman High is a heartwarming story that beautifully balances the sorrows of life with joys found in community, belonging, and acceptance.