Fourteen-year-old Doug Swieteck faces many challenges, including an abusive father, a brother traumatized by Vietnam, suspicious teachers and police officers, and isolation, but when he meets a girl known as Lil Spicer, he develops a close relationship with her and finds a safe place at the local library.

""There is the mammal way and there is the bird way." This is one scientist's pithy distinction between mammal brains and bird brains: two ways to make a highly intelligent mind. But the bird way is much more than a unique pattern of brain wiring, and lately, scientists have taken a new look at bird behaviors they have, for years, dismissed as anomalies or mysteries. What they are finding is upending the traditional view of how birds conduct their...

Follows the journey of a little bird who flies to the north, south, east, and west to decide which direction she likes best.

"A heavily designed and stunning look at the many birds of the sky--perfect for fans of Botanicum"--

"An illustrated handbook on birds that explores in detail their anatomical makeup and evolutionary history to explain their form and function and their place in the natural world"--