Book cover of The Meaning of Birds

Book description

Nominated for the Lambda Literary Award!

"An evocative story of the thrills of first love and the anguish of first loss. This will break you and heal you." -Julie Murphy, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dumplin'

Not to be missed by fans of Nina LaCour and Becky Albertalli,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Meaning of Birds as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Jaye Robin Brown writes complex characters with a deft hand and everyone in this book felt deeply real to me. I didn’t just read about Jess and Vivi’s relationship. I joined Jess on her tumultuous emotional journey. As a mental health counselor, I often encourage people to seek out coping mechanisms to manage adversity, but it’s important to realize that sometimes the thing that made a person whole is inaccessible after trauma or loss, and that healing means forging new paths. This story captures that idea beautifully. Heart-wrenching, but ultimately a story of hope and renewal.

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December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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