Review: Wild Bird

Wild Bird
by Wendelin Van Draanen

Age Range: 12 & up

Release Date: September 5, 2017

Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers

9781101940440

“‘Sometimes it doesn’t take much for what’s dormant to bloom.’”

Fourteen-year-old Wren Clemens is alone. At least, that’s how it feels. She’s railing at her parents, railing at her sister, regularly getting drunk and high. She is in way too deep with shady friends-who-are-not-friends, and is now being dragged out of her bed at 4am and whisked off to wilderness therapy camp. Like that’s going to help.

Wild Bird is a whirlwind of the best kind, the kind only Wendelin Van Draanen (Sammy Keyes, Flipped, The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones) can bring to life. Wren (yes… like the bird) has a tremendously difficult journey ahead of her, and while at first she fights and screams and rages, it soon becomes clear that the harsh Utah desert will eat her alive if she doesn’t slow down and accept a little help. She will make progress, set herself back, make progress again, and so on. And it will be hardest, greatest eight weeks of her life.

Van Draanen doesn’t pull any punches when exploring the lives of girls that end up in these therapy programs. There are abuse survivors, abandonment survivors, junkies, all very real and rounded girls who have faced more than their fair share of hardship. There is so much to appreciate about these girls and the reality of how they face their demons, especially when we remember that Wren is only fourteen and started this harsh descent, told in flashbacks throughout, at age eleven. This happens, and it’s refreshing and, unfortunately, necessary to be reminded of and explore this, rather than pretend it is only when a child reaches teenage years that drugs and sex and booze can be a problem.

On that note, Wild Bird is blatantly realistic. While the camp may be exactly what the girls need, there is no such thing as a miracle solution when it comes to trauma or addiction. The campers want to move past their issues, yet even with progress, triggers pop up in the most innocent, unexpected places. A field of flowers, for example. Van Draanen makes you feel for these girls, and want them to be in a place of happiness.

One aspect I found particularly rewarding is the exploration of Wren’s trauma. Learning what the other campers have gone through, Wren suddenly feels childish. What are her problems compared to heroin addiction? To an abusive parent? Yet, not a single girl belittles her or scoffs at her issues, and I loved that. While the reality of what her new friends have faced certainly offers Wren perspective, it never ever suggests that her scars are somehow smaller or less worthy or real. They are very real. And excruciating, and raw, and constantly reopening. Wren’s journey as she looks at the awful things she’s done with new eyes is introspective brilliance.

Meditative and unflinchingly real, Wild Bird is a vivid portrait of hurt, of flaws, and of misguided anger, told in Van Draanen’s signature vibrant and striking prose. Do not miss this beautiful and emotional ride through the Utah desert.

Trigger warnings include substance abuse and its aftermath. Heroin talked about, with triggers of addiction presented.