3.0
Nightingale's Nest
By Nikki LoftinPublisher Description
A powerful novel about friendship and family that calls to mind Bridge to Terabithia
Twelve-year-old John Fischer Jr., or “Little John” as he’s always been known, is spending his summer helping his father with his tree removal business, clearing brush for Mr. King, the wealthy owner of a chain of Texas dollar stores, when he hears a beautiful song that transfixes him. He follows the melody and finds, not a bird, but a young girl sitting in the branches of a tall sycamore tree.
There’s something magical about this girl, Gayle, especially her soaring singing voice, and Little John’s friendship with Gayle quickly becomes the one bright spot in his life, for his home is dominated by sorrow over his sister’s death and his parents’ ever-tightening financial difficulties.
But then Mr. King draws Little John into an impossible choice—forced to choose between his family’s survival and a betrayal of Gayle that puts her future in jeopardy.
Inspired by a Hans Christian Andersen story, Nightingale's Nest is an unforgettable novel about a boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders and a girl with the gift of healing in her voice.
Twelve-year-old John Fischer Jr., or “Little John” as he’s always been known, is spending his summer helping his father with his tree removal business, clearing brush for Mr. King, the wealthy owner of a chain of Texas dollar stores, when he hears a beautiful song that transfixes him. He follows the melody and finds, not a bird, but a young girl sitting in the branches of a tall sycamore tree.
There’s something magical about this girl, Gayle, especially her soaring singing voice, and Little John’s friendship with Gayle quickly becomes the one bright spot in his life, for his home is dominated by sorrow over his sister’s death and his parents’ ever-tightening financial difficulties.
But then Mr. King draws Little John into an impossible choice—forced to choose between his family’s survival and a betrayal of Gayle that puts her future in jeopardy.
Inspired by a Hans Christian Andersen story, Nightingale's Nest is an unforgettable novel about a boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders and a girl with the gift of healing in her voice.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities7 Reviews
3.0
S.Erickson
Created almost 8 years agoShare
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Lindsey Ziegler
Created over 8 years agoShare
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“Sometimes compelling, other times very 2 d.”
Jessie
Created over 9 years agoShare
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“I was captured right away by this young boy's narrative. Little John, or "Tree" has lost his little sister and is trying to help his father as a landscaper when he meets the wispy pixie-like Gayle.
Things get dark in this book pretty fast. Gayle has a nasty foster home and later ***POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT FOR THE NEXT SENTENCE BUT AFTER THAT I DON'T GIVE TOO MUCH AWAY has an experience that more than hints at abuse from another older male character in the story.
END OF POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT***
***While perhaps the idea is that by not mentioning the horrors that have occurred, it somehow makes it appropriate for children, it is in the unspeakable that I was made so uncomfortable. It seems too horrific a subject matter for grades 4 - 6. That said, the fact that the characters are so young might deter older readers, giving this book a tricky target readership.
Another thing to consider is the pacing. While I found it easy to peel through and well written, I think kids may get a little bored or averse to the slower pace and more importantly, the depressing events and overall heaviness of the plot. There does exist a beautiful lightness and magic and metaphor in this book's pages – freedom, loss, beauty, fragility and the importance of a nice safe nest – but these may only be appreciated by an older audience... like myself :)”
Laura Kovach
Created almost 10 years agoShare
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Mandy
Created about 10 years agoShare
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About Nikki Loftin
Nikki Loftin lives and writes just outside Austin, Texas, surrounded by dogs, chickens, and small, loud boys. She is also the author of The Sinister Sweetness of Splendid Academy, which Publishers Weekly called “mesmerizing” and Kirkus called “irresistible.” You can visit her online at www.nikkiloftin.com.
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