Newbery

Medal–winning author Patricia MacLachlan paints a moving portrait of what it

means to be a family, the power of love, and the importance of bringing the

truth out into the light, in this beautiful and profound story about adoption.

Nora

and Ben’s younger sister Birdy loves to keep secrets. She surprises her family

more than once: She hides a kitten in her room. She writes a beautiful poem.

One day Birdy watches her mother spit into a tube, ready to send it off to find

out more about herself and where her family came from. Birdy spits into a tube,

too, when no one sees her.

But

when the test results come back, they are a surprise. Birdy is seemingly not

related to Nora and Ben’s parents. But if she is adopted, how could that have

happened without the children knowing?

Nora

and Ben must learn when to keep a secret, and who to go to for help—and

eventually, how to solve this secret for the entire family.