B95 is an extraordinary bird among an extraordinary species. He is a red knot of the subspecies rufa, a "robin-sized shorebird." Unfortunately, the red knot population is in steep decline, and Moonbird tackles the steps being taken to save them.
Red knots undertake an unbelievable migratory passage. B95 is the oldest of his kind ever recorded, at least 18 years old, named for the letter-number combination on the orange band around his left leg. At least 18 times he has survived the 18,000-mile round trip between his breeding grounds in southern Argentina and his wintering grounds in northern Canada. Each chapter chronicles one leg of the bird's journey, its dangers, the physical characteristics (one rufa flew 5,000 miles over six days, without a break), and the importance of each stopover site. Many stop at Delaware Bay to refuel, each consuming more than 8,000 horseshoe crab eggs in a single day. But the bay's crab population is under threat. Unless it is protected, red knots will become endangered.
Phillip Hoose (2009 National Book Award winner Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice) traveled to Tierra del Fuego, Argentina and the Delaware Bay to help band and record the red knot migration. He meets the scientists involved, and intersperses profiles of each, including a teen who created Friends of the Red Knot, working to declare rufa an endangered species. Readers will become attached to this irresistible bird and may well join the worldwide enthusiasm for the remarkable B95. --Angela Carstensen, school librarian and blogger