The Bird Caper
Victoria E. Pannell and Thorir Sigfusson
VPTSWriters (2024)
ISBN: 978-1964064000
Reviewed by Diana Coyle for Reader Views (08/2024)
When ten-year-old Brandon Woodberry arrives home one day from school, he and his schoolmates who live nearby can’t believe their eyes, in “The Bird Caper,” part of The Crow’s Tales series by Victoria E. Pannell and Thorir Sigfusson. Right on the front lawn is a huge For Sale sign. His friends started badgering him asking why he hadn’t told them he and his family were moving. These kids had all grown up together since babies and now Brandon was going to be moving away, changing the whole dynamic of the group. Upset with the whole situation, he charges into his house to ask his mom for more information about the sign on the lawn.
What she has to say to him isn’t exactly what he was hoping to hear. They are moving and there isn’t any room for negotiation on this decision. His parents, his older sister and he will be moving very soon into another home, which they haven’t even begun looking for yet. Brandon hates this idea and tries everything to convince them to reconsider. Especially when he finds out that he can’t take his pigeon coop and his best friend, Ralph, the black crow that hangs out with him every day.
Things go from bad to worse when he finds out the next day that his father scheduled an appointment to look at a house before it officially hits the market. This is the perfect time for Brandon and his family to see if this new house will be the right fit for them before it hits the market and someone else might buy it. He’s so upset, he turns to Ralph for comfort and support.
If things aren’t bad enough, strange things start happening around the neighborhood. People start having things stolen from their homes and they all describe a large black bird as the culprit. Brandon now has another huge problem on his hands. He must prove to all these people that Ralph isn’t the thief. Is he able to clear Ralph’s name from all the crimes committed? Does Brandon’s family move into the house they looked at? How far away is their new home?
This reviewer truly enjoyed this middle school mystery right from the very first page. It was hard not to feel sorry for Brandon because so many things were going wrong for him in a short timeframe. He found out that he and his family were moving away from the only home he had ever known. He was worried that he had to start a new school and that meant making all new friends as well. Plus, Ralph was being targeted for theft crimes that occurred in the neighborhood. He had a lot he was dealing with in a really short timeframe. Readers young and old can all commiserate with Brandon that when it rains it pours.
His bad luck just kept coming and he didn’t know what he should do to change it. Page after page, readers are easily drawn more deeply into this middle-grade mystery, losing track of the fact that this is a ten-year-old boy trying to enjoy just turning ten. He has the world on his shoulders and he needs to find answers quickly, including how he could convince his parents to forget about the move.
What really stuck out for me with this story was how it felt like it was a movie playing out before my eyes. It didn’t read like a book, it read like a middle-grade mystery movie where all the characters have their part in telling the story. Unfortunately, it was clear that his parents weren’t swaying on the idea of canceling their moving plans, and readers will find themselves cheering Brandon on that everything will ultimately be okay when his family does move. As for Ralph being accused of all the neighborhood crimes, well that’s a whole other story. Pannell and Sigfusson did a remarkable job telling this mystery and wrapped up all the loose ends in a nice package at the end.
The characters are extremely believable. The plot is creative and pulls the readers deeper within the story as they turn each page. The general feeling of angst throughout the entire story will have any reader of any age sympathizing with Brandon for all that is going wrong in his short life.
If you’re looking for a middle-grade mystery in which you will be riveted to your seat hoping all the problems will find rectifiable enough solutions that Brandon can deal with, then look no further. “The Bird Caper: The Crow’s Tales” comes highly recommended by this reviewer. Well done, Ms. Pannel and Mr. Sigfusson!