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  • Published: 11 June 2024
  • ISBN: 9780593461532
  • Imprint: Nancy Paulsen Books
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 176
  • RRP: $36.99

With Just One Wing



Coretta Scott King Honor winner Brenda Woods’s poignant, heartfelt story of an adopted boy and the bird he rescues

Coretta Scott King Honor winner Brenda Woods’s poignant, heartfelt story of an adopted boy and the bird he rescues

Everyone expects Coop to be musical like his beloved parents, but he’s not. That’s one of the few things he finds awkward about being adopted—well, that and the fact that he sometimes wonders why his birth mother didn’t love him enough to keep him. This summer, he’s stuck at home with a broken arm after falling out of a tree trying to get a closer peek at a mockingbird nest. Later, when the eggs in the nest have hatched and the fledglings fly away, he and his friend Zandi notice that one of them stays behind. Taking a closer look, they realize the bird only has one wing. Since it won’t survive in the wild, they adopt it and name it Hop, and then learn everything they can about birds so they can care for Hop properly. Unfortunately, when a hawk injures Hop, the vet says it’s illegal to keep mockingbirds as pets. Faced with a difficult decision about surrendering his beloved little bird to a bird sanctuary, Coop starts thinking about his birth mother’s motivation in a new light.

  • Published: 11 June 2024
  • ISBN: 9780593461532
  • Imprint: Nancy Paulsen Books
  • Format: Hardback
  • Pages: 176
  • RRP: $36.99

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Praise for With Just One Wing


PRAISE FOR WHEN WINTER ROBESON CAME:
     * “Heartfelt. . . . Cleverly uses music terminology to convey Eden’s and Winter’s shifting emotions during the six days of unrest and to mark the pacing of the plot. The free verse makes some of the more complex themes accessible, and this could easily spark a thoughtful discussion on how a history of Jim Crow laws, police brutality, and housing inequality plays into current social unrest.” —BCCB STAR
     “A highly relatable and at times poetic piece of writing and American history with a fresh depiction of lower- to upper-middle-class Black life in midcentury Los Angeles.” —NY Times Book Review
     “A heartfelt exploration of the 1965 Watts Rebellion as seen through the eyes of a remarkable girl.” —Jacqueline Woodson
     “Woods has framed this story lyrically, using musical movements and terminology to move the exposition along believably. . . . Readers will find themselves immersed in the time period with naturally included details. . . . This slim yet affecting offering presents an important moment in U.S. history that sadly mirrors current events. Middle-graders will be entertained and educated, as well as inspired to action.” —Booklist
     “Interwoven with plentiful music references and utilizing historically accurate language, Woods's harmonious play-by-play narrative of growing up during the Watts Riots spotlights some long-lasting effects of racial inequality and discrimination on children.” —PW