How to Make a Bird - Softcover

Murray, Martine

3.59

273 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1741141095 ISBN 13: 9781741141092

Publisher: Allen & Unwin, 2003

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I m not a bad person. I ve simply come out of left field. I m a stray and, anyway, whatever I am, I m not it yet. I m still becoming. In fact, I d always believed that I was once a horse, because I loved to run down a hill. And Eddie was a fish. He was a swaggerer, if you know what I mean. Flimsy but loveable. Mannie is searching for the thing she doesn t yet know, but it s like a runaway kite pulling her heart forward. So she s leaving home. She s heading for the city with nothing but a long red dress, a strong hunch, and an unknown address in her pocket. As the day turns to night, Mannie makes a lot of discoveries and not exactly the ones she planned to make. With rare sensitivity, wisdom and humour, and a voice that's entirely her own, Martine Murray tells a bittersweet story about longing and losing and finding again.

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About the Author:

Martine Murray is a young author/illustrator. Born in Melbourne, she has travelled widely and now lives in Elwood. She says she has been a student for much longer than one should be, studying painting at the Victorian College of the Arts, filmmaking, dance and dance therapy, and writing. She teaches yoga and circus skills, makes dance theatre and writes stories. She likes dancing, walking and hanging upside-down on things.Martine is the author and illustrator of A Moose Called Mouse and The Slightly True Story of Cedar B. Hartley (Allen + Unwin) and author of A Dog Called Bear (Random House).

From School Library Journal:

Gr 9 Up–Fed up with her boring country life and thrown off-kilter by recent family tragedies, 17-year-old Mannie dons her mother's long red dress, boards a train to Melbourne, and sets off into the world planning to get as far away from her everyday existence as possible. Though she starts her journey feeling sure that she is doing right by herself, she encounters memories from her past that tug at her heart and shake her resolve. Should she truly move on to become a new version of herself or go back home and make the best of her situation? The transitions between Mannie's present day and past are integrated seamlessly. The time period is the late '70s, but this is only revealed in small hints (e.g., a passing mention that Star Wars is in theaters). The story itself, while well written, is not exciting, and Mannie is not easy to identify with. The only scenes evoking any emotion are the ones with her Grandmother Ivy, and when she recounts her brother's death. Despite the author's ability as a wordsmith, readers are not likely to stick with this story to the end.Melyssa Malinowski, Parkville High School, Baltimore, MD
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