Nightbird – Book Review

I recently read the book Nightbird by Alice Hoffman. This is the review of this book (I am not being paid to give this review).

This book is a great book for middle grade students. The main character Twig, a twelve-year-old girl lives in a town where many believe there is a monster. Twig’s own home is supposed to have a curse on it. Twig has a secret that no one is supposed to find out about and involves here older brother.  She faces conflicting emotions with wanting friends but also needing to keep her secret. This book is filled with fantasy and magic and the more you read, the more you want things to turn out well for Twig.

This would be great to use in class discussions on dysfunctional families, disabilities, loneliness, isolation, secrets, differences, and peer relationships. There are good opportunities for vocabulary development.

I didn’t want to put the book down because I really wanted to know the secret.  It was an easy and interesting read. I think boys and girls would enjoy this book.  It would be fun to have students draw illustrations of their own for different parts of the book. I think this book would be a great addition to a school library.