Songbirds: The powerful novel from the author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo and The Book of Fire

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Living on the island of Cyprus, Nisha is far from her native Sri Lanka. Though she longs to return home, she knows that working as a "maid" for a wealthy widow is the only way to earn enough to support her daughter, left behind to be raised by relatives.

To punish the rebels, two 'tributes', a boy and a girl, are chosen from each District to fight in an annual to-the-death competition known as "The Hunger Games". Based on his academic excellence, Coriolanus is chosen to mentor a tribute in the upcoming 10th Hunger Games; this is intended to improve the fighting condition of the tributes. Coriolanus is assigned the District 12 female tribute, Lucy Gray Baird. She belongs to a nomadic musician group called the Covey. Lucy Gray sparks the Capitol's attention after defiantly singing during the Reaping and slips a hidden snake into the clothing of the mayor's cruel daughter, Mayfair. The mentor of the Games' winner will receive a generous financial reward that Coriolanus wants to win. As a fan of The Beekeeper of Aleppo, I was anxious to see what Lefteri would write next. Songbirds explores the disappearance of a Sri Lankan maid/nanny from her employer’s home on the island of Cyprus. Nisha had worked for Petra for nine years and was more of a mother to Aliki than Petra. But the police just blow off her disappearance, assuming she had left for better employment possibilities. SoPetra undertakes to investigate on her own. Yiannis is Petra’s upstairs tenant and is in love with Nisha. It took me a while to warm to Yiannis as he is a poacher of songbirds. In this heartfelt novel by the author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo, a Sri Lankan domestic worker goes missing from her employer’s home in Cyprus, and the widowed homeowner herself sets out to find her after the police show no interest.” — The New York Times Creating this series was my favourite kind of challenge. Almost every word in every book had to be phonically decodable, and yet I wanted to write proper stories which children would enjoy reading. I also wanted them to be really varied, as I know how children’s tastes differ. So some of the stories are in prose, some in rhyme, some are realistic and others fantastical. There are a few non-fiction titles, a play and a quiz, and the books are illustrated by a wonderful variety of artists. I think my favourite characters are Spike who says he can dive, drive and feed wild lions, and a kleptomaniac kangaroo called Sue who comes to school and steals the spoons and glue.The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023 Movie) - Reveal , retrieved June 6, 2022 uneven and often sloppy prose that tried to be both literary and mystery and failed miserably at both When Nisha suddenly goes missing, the police do nothing to find her. Petra and Yiannas are separately desperate to find out where she is. When Petra learns Yiannas is her fiance, they come together to search for her.

I write this review with tears still on my cheeks from finishing this beautiful novel. Songbirds felt vastly different to me than Lefteri’s first novel The Beekeeper of Aleppo but like Beekeeper it is a beautifully written tale so tiny in its cast of characters and so huge in the global scope of the story and so, so relevant and important. Yiannis is a poacher, trapping the tiny protected song birds that stop in Cypress as they migrate each year from Africa to Europe and selling them on the illegal market. He dreams of finding a new way of life, and of marrying Nisha. Much like with The Beekeeper, Christy Lefteri shines a light on some important issues. The primary focus is how domestic worker are treated in some places, with very long days, little time off, and living far away from their families because it’s the only way to support them. Also important is that when multiple workers went missing, the police did not wish to investigate, seeing the women as less than. There’s a tie-in between this storyline and actual missing people, and the author’s note is not to be missed. Also of importance to the storyline are the gorgeous songbirds who are poached and consumed as a delicacy. All of the wildlife is depicted with such stunning writing.The police refuse to take on the case, their feeling being that migrant workers are by nature transitory. Searching For Answers Coriolanus Snow - The main protagonist of the novel. His family faced financial difficulties following the war, and he makes great efforts to hide this and maintain his social status. His mother died during childbirth, as well as his baby sister, and his father died during the war, leaving him under the care of his grandmother. He is arrogant, cunning and strategic, taking whatever actions are necessary to improve his situation. Coriolanus becomes infatuated with Lucy Gray after becoming her mentor during the tenth Hunger Games. Coriolanus is faced with a decision between power, status, or love. He works as a Peacekeeper and Gamemaker working his way up to eventually becoming the president of Panem. Dr. Volumnia Gaul - Head Gamemaker and the overseer of every Hunger Games since their inception. She has a twisted view of human nature and believes in an authoritarian government and the need for punishment and control over the Districts. She is indirectly responsible for Snow’s descent into deceit and authority so that he may succeed her and continue the Games. Hated by many people of all districts, she is presented as a sadistic, misanthropic old crone.