Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2023)

A California boy chronicles the long, difficult Covid-19 lockdown in verses that explore his confused emotions.On the day "that started everything" and that "was also a day that ended everything," Archie's life is turned upside down. School is abruptly closed, his parents must work from home, and big brother Hank is ever more difficult. Archie's asthma puts him at risk, causing his parents to take ever-greater precautions. All this, plus attending "(not real) school at home," makes him feel more and more isolated, unseen, and muted. He has outbursts of anger and despair: "…even though we're together / stuck inside the house / we're not really together-together." Archie's imagination is captured when he hears a brief buzzing sound, senses something whipping past, and witnesses "the smallest bird ever," and he soon finds a new purpose. With help from his family, he carefully provides nectar for his "hummingbird restaurant" and becomes especially attached to Ruby, a hummingbird with red patches, as he watches for and worries about her, especially when a wildfire rages. Some poems are lists or consist of a few lines; others flow breathlessly, offering detailed accounts of events, beautiful descriptions, or information about hummingbirds. Archie often repeats important words, phrases, or concepts in a rhythmic way that emphasizes his escalating emotions. He's intensely loving, deeply compassionate, insightful, inventive, and expressive. Readers will gasp in wonder and empathy, cry and sometimes laugh, cheer at the upbeat conclusion, and feel every emotion that's so powerfully expressed.Brilliant. (author's note) (Verse fiction. 8-12)

ALA Booklist (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Thanks to COVID-19, thinks Archie, nearly 10, nothing is normal now. His parents are working at home while he and his older brother, Hank, have been relegated to distance learning, which makes Archie feel invisible. And while he loves to laugh, he feels lonely. His life changes one day, however, when he sees a hummingbird and, fascinated, starts a hummingbird journal, determined to learn everything he can about the tiny birds. With his mother's help, he puts up feeders, which attract a hummingbird he calls Ruby. Ruby disappears when a thunderstorm causes fires that fill the air around Archie's California home with smoke. Happily, Ruby returns, and Archie's teacher invites him to tell the class all about Ruby and other hummingbirds. Lucianovic's first-person novel in verse is extremely well written and filled with colorful phrases: Archie is fascinated by eyebrows, which he calls the stand-up comedians of the face. Ruby's wings whir like his friend Liam's cat's purr. Young readers who have experienced COVID-19 (and who like birds) are sure to enjoy this quiet novel.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

A California boy chronicles the long, difficult Covid-19 lockdown in verses that explore his confused emotions.On the day "that started everything" and that "was also a day that ended everything," Archie's life is turned upside down. School is abruptly closed, his parents must work from home, and big brother Hank is ever more difficult. Archie's asthma puts him at risk, causing his parents to take ever-greater precautions. All this, plus attending "(not real) school at home," makes him feel more and more isolated, unseen, and muted. He has outbursts of anger and despair: "…even though we're together / stuck inside the house / we're not really together-together." Archie's imagination is captured when he hears a brief buzzing sound, senses something whipping past, and witnesses "the smallest bird ever," and he soon finds a new purpose. With help from his family, he carefully provides nectar for his "hummingbird restaurant" and becomes especially attached to Ruby, a hummingbird with red patches, as he watches for and worries about her, especially when a wildfire rages. Some poems are lists or consist of a few lines; others flow breathlessly, offering detailed accounts of events, beautiful descriptions, or information about hummingbirds. Archie often repeats important words, phrases, or concepts in a rhythmic way that emphasizes his escalating emotions. He's intensely loving, deeply compassionate, insightful, inventive, and expressive. Readers will gasp in wonder and empathy, cry and sometimes laugh, cheer at the upbeat conclusion, and feel every emotion that's so powerfully expressed.Brilliant. (author's note) (Verse fiction. 8-12)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Set in 2020, this melancholy verse novel by Lucianovic (The League of Picky Eaters) stars young asthmatic Archie, who’s experiencing a particularly strong disconnect from family and friends while living through the pandemic in California: “Loneliness/ is a word I knew/ before/ but it wasn’t a word I felt/ before.” He especially mourns the loss of closeness with his older brother Hank, who seems to be thriving in their new situation, pushing Archie away when he needs Hank most. Feeling increasingly unseen and “muted,” Archie grows acutely oppressed by the rote sameness of lockdown, which is disrupted by wildfires. Though Archie’s overarching trajectory in dealing with negative emotions, as well as his understanding of his estrangement with Hank, feel overly mature, many readers will identify with his struggles with long-distance learning and feelings of isolation. His discovery of and growing fascination with a hummingbird propels him toward positivity and eventually helps him make the empathetic connections he longs for, shifting the story focus to Archie’s empowerment and interpersonal growth and resulting in a satisfyingly realistic resolution. All characters read as white. Ages 8–12. (Feb.)