Blue Birds

Gr 4–7—Like Rose's debut novel, May B. (Random, 2012), Blue Birds is historical fiction told in free verse. Set in the late 1580s, the story centers on two young girls who forge an unlikely bond, one which defies the conventions of their respective communities and threatens to shatter an already fragile détente. Alis is a colonist who's just arrived on the island of Roanoke with her family and a small band of English men and women intent on settling the New World. Kimi is a young Roanoke girl who watches the arrival of the white folk with a mixture of curiosity and trepidation. Over time, even as tensions mount and violence erupts between the two peoples, the young women find each other amid the confusion, hatred, and ignorance—communicating through gestures and simple words. Told in alternating voices, rendered in distinct font styles for each girl, the verses allow readers to see their relationship evolve from one of tentative friendship to a deep bond of sisterhood. As the girls become closer, their poems occasionally share a page, the short stanzas working together as meaning and understanding is reached. Rose's writing is accessible and filled with rich details describing the setting: the rough and ragged barracks in which the settlers strive to make a home as well as the vibrant natural beauty of Kimi's village and surrounding woods. Based loosely on the slim evidence surrounding the events of the infamous Lost Colony of Roanoke, Rose takes some liberties with history (explained in an author's note): there was no record of a young woman—other than wives and mothers—being among the group of settlers during that time period. Similarly, the actual whereabouts of the missing settlers is one of history's great mysteries. The tough choices the characters must make are, on the whole, believable outgrowths of their burgeoning bond. The ending, however, may stretch credulity for some readers.