Sixth-grader Burdette "Bird" Weaver joins the ranks of O'Connor's (Me and Rupert Goody; Moonpie and Ivy) unflappable and memorable smalltown narrators. When Harlem Tate moves to Freedom, Ga., and winds up in Bird's class, she wants to make friends with him "before somebody poisons his mind with lies" about her. She confides her wish during one of her daily visits to her neighbor, Miss Delphine, who "can look right through [a person's] mean spirit and find something the rest of us overlooked." After a few false starts with Harlem, one day Bird sees her chance: a spelling bee. Her teacher has said they must enter the contest with a partner, and Bird sets her sights on the mysterious new boy. O'Connor constructs the first-person narrative in such a way that readers can see why it may be challenging for Bird to make friends; but the girl's conversations with empathetic Miss Delphine also bring out Bird's humor and big heart beneath her rough edges. Slowly, Bird's dreams of "fame and glory" (winning a trip to Disney World as top prize in the spelling contest) become secondary to the real-life highs and lows of being a true friend. Her missteps along the way will be as recognizable to readers as the universal rewards of friendship. Ages 8-12. (May)
