Swordbird (Thorndike Literacy Bridge Middle Reader) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Nancy Yi Fan (Author), Mark Zug (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Thorndike Literacy Bridge Middle Reader

The blue jays and cardinals of Stone-Run Forest have turned against each other. According to legend, only Swordbird, son of the Great Spirit, has the power to conquer evil and restore peace to the land. But is he real or just a myth? Can Swordbird arrive in time to save the forest . . . or will it be too late?

Twelve-year-old author Nancy Yi Fan has woven a captivating tale about the birds of Stone-Run Forest and the heroism, courage, and resourcefulness in their quest for peace.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Yi Fan's tightly woven story delivers a manifest message promoting peace and freedom. Starring woodland bird characters, the saga pits the tyrannical hawk Turnatt, captor of "slavebirds" whom he shackles and puts to work building his fortress, against the cardinals and blue jays. Though once friendly, these two benign flocks are now at war: Turnatt's soldiers have stolen eggs and food from each flock (the hawk eats a purloined egg daily, believing this will "keep death away"), and have led each camp to believe the other is responsible for the thefts. One of the slavebirds, a robin named Miltin, escapes to tell Aska, a brave young jay, about Turnatt's evil doings and his plan to enslave all the local woodbirds. Blue jays and cardinals join forces to vanquish the despot, a mission that entails several diverting twists, including a search for the necessary elements to summon the Swordbird, the "mystical white bird, the son of the Great Spirit." The author occasionally relieves the tale's ample tension with snippets of humor. While feasting with a traveling troupe of winged thespians, for instance, the cardinals and blue jays drive away Turnatt's marauding forces by bombarding them with bean soup and raspberry pies. Experienced readers will recognize the familiar allegory here, but the book will likely appeal to Redwall fans, and this young writer is worth watching. Ages 8-12. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4–6—The Stone-Run Country is in peril. The blue jays' Bluewingle tribe and their former friends, the cardinals of the Sunrise tribe, have gone to war. Each side believes the other to have stolen its food and eggs, little suspecting the malicious hawk, Turnatt, along with his hoard of crows and ravens. Now he is intent on forcing all of the local woodbirds to work on his magnificent fortress, and it's up to a variety of brave avians to upset the villain's plans. Their only hope lies in summoning the great warrior, Swordbird, to assist them in their time of need. Fan wrote the book when she was 11 as a response to a world at war; it goes without saying that she is very talented. However, the book essentially reuses old tropes in a new setting, making the plot, pacing, and characters more than a little predictable and, for all of its charms, the story is overly familiar. Dialogue runs to the clunky with lines like, "I'll get you, me and my crew will" and "You'll pay for that, scalawag!" The greatest credit should be given to the illustrator, who took the author's imagery and made it believable as well as attractive.—Elizabeth Bird, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 241 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (August 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786297387
• ISBN-13: 978-0786297382
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,596,652 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nancy Yi Fan is the New York Times Bestselling author of Swordbird (2007). She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and has been a straight-A student since elementary school. She spent the first part of her childhood in China, where she was born in 1993. Birds, a lifelong passion of the author's, provided the inspiration for Swordbird and her new fantasy novel Sword Quest (2008). When she isn't talking and writing to readers worldwide, she kayaks, performs martial arts, and takes good care of her pet lovebirds, Ever-sky, Dippler, and Pandora. She currently lives in Florida with her parents.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A solid first try, considering, but..., May 2, 2007

By 

R. C. Hall - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Swordbird (Hardcover)

First off, even though I am an adult (or as close to one as I'll ever be), I read a great deal of children's fiction and enjoy reading it, so I'm not necessarily looking for the same type of depth and complexity that an average adult would expect from fiction.

That said, I had to force myself to finish reading this one; it kept losing my interest no matter how often I came back to it. With so many people at the publisher apparently involved in this book, I'm surprised that no one was able to help the author smooth out the dialogue, for one thing. As much as I wanted to like the characters, they felt like Redwall extras, and I'm sorry to say that I never really found myself caring what happened to them. The story's style and structure also felt like Redwall retreads.

I can understand that allowances have to be made for young authors, and this author is, of course, highly gifted for her age. But the fact remains that, if it were not for the "hook" of the author's age, I don't think this book would have gotten published, especially not by a major publisher, and if you're going to read the book solely for its own merits, you'll wind up being disappointed. (I can see, however, that it would be a great inspiration to other young writers.)

The one thing I really loved about this book were the detailed pencil illustrations of the birds -- remarkably realistic and yet with their own personalities. I wish they hadn't started repeating, though; I would have liked to see more.

Overall, I'm looking forward to seeing what this author will do in several more years, as her skills catch up with her talent.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, December 26, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Swordbird (Hardcover)

I was quite surprised when I read an article in a magazine about this book that was being released soon, and was written by a 12 year-old author. Next time I was at the bookstore, I picked up a copy, eager to see how well people around my age could write, and get published. As soon as I began to read, I noticed that the book didn't flow quite as smoothly as good a book should. Unlike most books of the same genre that I've read, Swordbird was almost difficult to continue reading due to a cliche plot and cast of characters. I was continually reminded of the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, with the great banquets of food, the evil tyrant constructing a fortress, and the peace-loving protagonists. Swordbird even mentions a tapestry of the great warrior, Swordbird, just like Redwall's tapestry of Martin the Warrior. And while Swordbird did contain some vivid sensory descriptions, they appeared infrequently. The plot of the story itself was not extremely complex or deep in meaning. Parts of the book were also akward and even childish and didn't quite fit in with the rest. I do congratulate this young author on her determination and persistence in writing the book and having it published, but it fell short of my expectations.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth reading unless your under twelve., January 27, 2009

By 

Rachel Carpenter "A Young Writer's Opinion" (Ohio, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Swordbird (Paperback)

I'll try to be breif, because all in all, I did not like this book.

Throughout the book I continually lost focus because it was an overall dull book. In fact, I quickly found that I couldn't care less about the outcome of the book by the time I reached the end of chapter one. This, however, I could make myself overcome and so I finished it. But then I reached the end, if you could call it that. I was definately dissappointed. The story just stopped. Throughout the entire book there was what I figure was meant to be a complex fight between good and evil, but then suddenly, evil was defeated and the story ended.

I just find that after finishing the book, I wish I hadn't wasted the time.