With Just One Wing

A warm, accessible family story with credible conflicts and satisfying resolutions.

A heartfelt tale that intertwines a young boy's personal journey with his love of nature.

During a "summer of curveballs," an adopted boy draws parallels between his own life and that of the injured, abandoned bird he rescues in this emotionally grounded tale of family, love, and perseverance by Woods (When Winter Robeson Came). Twelve-year-old Coop is ready to spend summer break playing video games at G-Pop and Nana's house and scoring three-pointers for his youth league basketball team. But G-Pop's newfound enthusiasm for bird-watching gets Coop and his friend Zandi hooked on the hobby. Things take a literal dive when Coop suffers a concussion and broken arm after falling out of a tree while investigating mockingbird eggs in a nest. After discovering that one of the nestlings has only one wing, Coop and Zandi rescue it and educate themselves about its care and behavior. They also learn that they can't legally keep the chick, leading Coop to realizations of his own. Woods presents Coop's ponderings about his birth mother, and how he fits into his adoptive family, with tenderness and sincerity in this smoothly plotted story that captures the fine-tuned rhythms of Coop's busy, engaged, and musical family. Characters read as racially diverse. Ages 10-up. (May)

Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

"During a 'summer of curveballs, ' an adopted boy draws parallels between his own life and that of the injured, abandoned bird he rescues in this emotionally grounded tale of family, love, and perseverance by Woods (When Winter Robeson Came). . . . Woods presents Coop's ponderings about his birth mother, and how he fits into his adoptive family, with tenderness and sincerity in this smoothly plotted story that captures the fine-tuned rhythms of Coop's busy, engaged, and musical family." —Publishers Weekly

"Woods, whose The Red Rose Box was a Coretta Scott King Honor Book, writes Coop's first-person narrative with simplicity and directness, whether detailing the observations of an increasingly avid bird-watcher or his reflections as he balances his personal longing to keeping Hop with his realization that Hop will be happier elsewhere." —Booklist

"Coop knows all about being adopted because his parents adopted him, yet as Coop and Zandi take care of little Hop, Coop comes to understand more about adoption as he deals with the possibility of giving Hop up so the bird can have a better life. The story offers an opportunity for readers to better understand adoption along with Coop and to expand notions of what it means to be a family. . . . An accessible read for struggling readers. While everything doesn't work out exactly how Coop hopes, the story ends with him believing he's done the right things for both himself and his bird friend." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"A boy's summer takes an unexpected turn, leading him to discover a new passion. . . . Through caring for the bird, named Hop, Coop comes to realize that loving someone sometimes means making hard choices. Woods uses simple, conversational language to bring the briskly paced story to life. Drawing parallels between Coop's complicated emotions around his adoption and his feelings toward the rescued bird, she makes a complex topic feel accessible while also illustrating what it truly means to love and protect. . . . " —Kirkus Reviews