The Aviary

Gr 4-6-A crumbling seaside mansion is the only home 11-year-old Clara has ever known. Forbidden a normal childhood because of a weak heart, she lives her days in isolation, her only company being her housekeeper mother, Ruby the cook, and elderly Mrs. Glendoveer. There are the aviary birds, but Clara fears their piercing screeches. One stormy day a mynah screams the name: Elliot. A single inquiry leads Clara to a terrible story involving the kidnapping and drowning of the five oldest Glendoveer children and the disappearance of baby Elliot. The children's father, a famous magician, was blamed for the tragedy. Fueled by curiosity and the promise of friendship with a new girl, Clara digs deeper. The girls learn that the aviary birds are key to what really happened that fateful day and devise a plan to bring the real kidnapper to justice, find Elliot, and free the trapped souls of the Glendoveer children. In solving the mystery, Clara learns of her own connection to the Glendoveer family. O'Dell weaves a tapestry of hauntingly gorgeous imagery with this atmospheric tale of suspense, magic, and adventure. Readers will be captivated from the first page on.

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

It's been a few years since readers have heard from O'Dell, apparently because she's been getting her Frances Hodgson Burnett on. This Gilded Age departure from O'Dell's contemporary fare depicts Clara Dooley, an 11-year-old invalid whose mother keeps the fabulous, mysterious house of a magician's widow, Mrs. Glendoveer. The kindly widow has secrets, not least of which is her love for five terrifying birds that live in an iron cage in the garden, but she dies before Clara can discover more than that she had a baby who disappeared. Clara, lonely and rebellious, struggles to make contact with a neighbor, Daphne, despite her mother's prohibitions. Daphne relays more gossip about the Glendoveers, but it's not until Daphne's kitten gets inside the aviary that Clara begins unraveling the truth. Nursing the injured honeycreeper, Clara believes the bird responds by "talking." Can it be? The honeycreeper's encouragement leads to discovery after discovery in a well-paced, high-tension mystery that draws not only on Burnett, but also C.S. Lewis, Zilpha Keatley Snyder, and Neil Gaiman, joining a rich heritage of stories about children with a secret "room of their own." Ages 8-12. 

Copyright 2011 Publisher’s Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2011:
An absorbing mix of talking birds, ghostly messages, kidnapped children, magic spells & tragic family secrets.

School Library Journal. November 1, 2011:
"O'Dell weaves a tapestry of hauntingly gorgeous imagery with this atmospheric tale of suspense, magic, and adventure. Readers will be captivated from the first page on."

Booklist, October 1, 2011:
O'Dell has crafted a terrific story with just the right degree of horror.