Keeper of the Rend

A heart-rending middle-grade debut steeped in magical realism about a bird-loving boy who moves to the countryside where he encounters an invasion of dangerous creatures Xavier T. Fletcher is an odd duck—at least that’s what everyone in his sleepy little suburb seems to think. Luckily, birds happen to be the aspiring naturalist’s favorite things, so he doesn’t mind the label. But when Xavier’s father loses his job, everything changes, and his family is forced to move to his Nana Susan’s farm. There he meets Clementine, a strange, messy girl who doesn’t see him as an odd duck at all. Too bad she has the unfortunate habit of using her slingshot to hunt the birds he loves. Xavier’s not sure what to think when Clem assures him they aren’t really birds. He’s even less sure when he discovers that Clem isn’t lying.