Hummingbird

by Natalie Lloyd

Libby audiobook 8 hours

Read by: the author

Published: 2022

Genre: YA - realistic and fantasy . . . 

The realistic part - brittle bone disease, adolescence, middle school relationships, family, . . . 

The fantasy - magic is woven throughout the book

There were times the author's voice was irritating and times it was perfect for the characters.

There were places that Olive was incredibly mature and places where she was a very typical tween. 

This was an engaging story and the ending actually surprised me a bit. The characters were mostly delightful (I think Olive's dad Jupiter and her new friend Grace were my favorites).

Emily Dickinson, homeschooler goes to Macklemore Middle School, a banjo playing old lady, a fantastical library, a magic hummingbird that appears very sporadically (like every 30-60 years) and grants wishes, Hatch Malone turning out to be a very different person than Olive anticipated, . . . 

But I just can't see a librarian being okay with dozens of "support animals" like opossums, llama, birds, etc. being loose in a library! Birds can't really control their sphincter area . . . yuk.

(Two weeks after initial post, I found a scrap of paper with notes. Also, I had used the word "immature" instead of "mature." I really should proofread these before posting!)

Miss Pigeon is *awful*! (So were a few other adults at the school.)

"Fact: I like theatre people." - Olive

Me, too, Olive. Me too.

Mr. Watson :-) Wonderful character. Too bad he was almost exclusively in Olive's first day of school scene and then . . . background.

"joy kabooms" - I love this way of describing the feeling from a wonderful experience.

The "Maddies" - Maddy 1, Maddy 2, and Maddy 3 (who would prefer to be called Madeline).

Birds in the library? No!