A bold, lively narrator with brittle bone disease stars in this whimsical, heartwarming story that's laced with magic.
Olive Miracle Martin's "prayer and wish and wildest hope" is to attend middle school, where she's certain she'll meet her future BFF. Even more than that, the 11-year-old homeschooler wants to prove that she's more than "fragile as a falling star"--Olive has osteogenesis imperfecta, which causes her "candy bones" to break easily. But when her prayer is answered, the first day is a "seesaw of feelings" and Olive starts to question her choice. "Change is on the wind," though, when "feather-snow" starts gusting through Olive's Tennessee mountain town and whispers float among its residents of a riddle that will summon a magic, grant-wishing hummingbird. Olive determines to find the hummingbird and wish for "normal" bones--but she'll have to contend with the rest of the town, whose wishes are equally important.
Hummingbird author Natalie Lloyd (The Problim Children series) shares the same disability as Olive, and she deftly infuses her own experiences with OI into the story, exploring universal feelings that can be exacerbated by a disability, like loneliness and the conflict between wanting to blend in or stand out. Lloyd peppers the narrative with free verse, beautifully expressing Olive's "tangles of thoughts" as she comes into her own, whether it's her first sleepover with her new best friend or tryouts for the lead in the school play. Throughout, Olive's sparkly personality shines, not as a fallen star but as "whole constellations of wonders and weirdness and hope." --Lana Barnes, freelance reviewer and proofreader