Little Bird by Camilla Way
Harper Collins, London 2009. ISBN 978000
7242375
(Ages 16+) Highly recommended. 'It took one second to snatch the child'
was the
dramatic
opening line of this novel set jointly in London and France and New York.
Three year old Elodie Brun
was
taken from her pram outside a boulangerie in France in 1985. The baker
heard the horrifying scream of
Therese, her mother, and knew that 'in the same brief moment Therese
and
all she
was and might yet still have been was taken too.'
Elodie was stolen and hidden away in the Foret de
Breteuil
by a mute man. She soon forgot the few words she knew and her old way
of life.
Instead she learnt how to mimic birdsongs and to fish and gather edible
food
from the forest.
Ten years later, as Elodie is entering adolescence,
her
kidnapper commits suicide and she runs out of the forest and into
civilization.
Because she only communicates through grunts and bird whistles she is
nicknamed 'Little Bird.' She isn't
returned to her
mother but taken under the wing of Dr Ingrid Klein, an expert in
psycholinguistics. Amazingly she learns to speak but again finds
herself hidden
away from society, this time as the doctor's 'laboratory specimen.'
At age fifteen Elodie pushes Ingrid away in the
kitchen
causing her bad injuries from which she ultimately dies.
Elodie flees once again, manages to change
her identity and survive in Queens
and even
settle down in the workforce.However
Elodie is always looking over her shoulder fearing that she will be
recognized
and exposed. Eventually the anonymous phone calls come whispering her
former
name. Whom can she trust?
This is a multi-faceted book with many subtle side
themes
examining relationships, prostitution, and drug taking as well as how
we learn
to speak. Useful adjuncts include a Q and A section with the author and
ten
other books set in London.
Intriguing from beginning to end Little Child is highly
recommended
for
secondary students and would make an excellent senior study novel.
Kay
Haarsma