Bird in a Box, by Andrea Davis Pinkney, is one of those rare books I can’t wait to recommend to everyone. It’s sweet, sad, and sassy all rolled into one. Our three main characters, Hibernia, Otis, and Willie, live in upstate New York during the Great Depression. Although they don’t know it yet, what they have in common is radio, Lila Weis, and the meteoric rise of African-American heavy-weight boxer Joe Louis, also known as the “Brown Bomber.”Actually, Hibernia prefers Swing Time at the Savoy when she’s sneak-listening to the Reverend’s radio. Blessed with a pink-fried singing voice, Hibernia dreams of abandoning her small town life like her mama did to make it big in Harlem. Otis, recently orphaned, tells himself riddles when he is missing his parents. All he has to remember them by are a handful of Chew-sy Time gum wrappers and a promise to root for Joe on the Philco radio his father left behind. And Willie, a talented young boxer, is struggling over the loss of his hands, which were ruined by his abusive father. Forced to flee home, Willie shows up at the Mercy Home for Negro Orphans.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out how all three kids are linked, but Bird is more character-centered than plot. That’s why it’s so charming. And while it would have been all too easy to wander into little orphan Annie territory, instead Pinkney gives each character a distinct personality and voice, complete with spunk and lively 1930s slang. Props, because I usually can’t stand regional accents spelled out on print (Redwall withstanding). But Willie’s uh-huhs and uh-uhs work really well because they don’t just add local flavor to the dialogue department, their one-two punch cadence emphasize just how much boxing is part of his character.
Beyond memorable characters, Pinkney writes unusual memorable characters. Ranking very high on my list of favorite middle grade characters from 2011 is Lila Weiss, an orphanage employee who is kind to Otis and Willie. Better yet, she’s always challenging the humorless Mr. Sneed, who occupies the Miss Hannigan role. Casting against type, Lila Weiss is neither young nor pretty and she rolls her socks like donuts around her ankles, but she’s full of meddling/reforming ideas and witty lines. In response to Mr. Sneed’s threat, “Mrs. Weiss, I find your humor unfavorable,” she responds with this great zinger: Despite what people say, Mr. Sneed, we portly people aren’t very jolly.
Pinkney is also playfully clever with her title; the bird and box in question make for versatile but apt metaphors: the magic of radio, Hibernia’s big city dreams, the Brown Bomber in the ring. But unlike the solitary note of despair from the famous poem that the title evokes, caged or otherwise, this birdsong is electrifying and full of hope. In fact, you could say it’s a deep-fried pink.
