Birding to Change the World: A Memoir

In this affecting memoir, O’Kane (Guatemala in Focus), a natural sciences lecturer at the University of Vermont, elegantly weaves personal and natural history as she details how her fascination with birds compelled her to quit her journalism career, return to school at age 45 to get a PhD in environmental studies, and become an ardent conservationist. Interspersed with O’Kane’s account of deciding to go back to school after observing the resilience of New Orleans sparrows in the wake of Hurricane Katrina are riveting details about how the birds likely followed humans out of Africa and were alternately treated with admiration (the first sparrows were brought to the U.S. in 1850 because “European immigrants simply missed” them) and contempt (extermination campaigns from the 1700s through the 1930s collectively killed hundreds of millions). Opining on what she’s learned from birds, O’Kane writes that the eastern phoebe’s habit of nesting in bridges, sheds, and other human structures taught her that “the presence of our species doesn’t have to hurt other species.” Her reverence for her avian subjects comes through on every page, and she retains a journalist’s keen eye for detail: “The male cardinal reminded me of an Irishman, standing up to leave his pub at midnight, head held high and chest inflated as he sang his traditional a cappella goodbye song.” This soars. Illus. Agent: Barney Karpfinger, Karpfinger Agency. (Feb.)