Literature & Fiction
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The Boy with a Bird in His Chest: A Novel
"A modern coming-of-age full of love, desperation, heartache, and magic" (Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize–winning author) about "the ways in which family, grief, love, queerness, and vulnerability all intersect" (Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author). Perfect for fans of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Thirty Names of Night.
Though Owen Tanner has never met anyone else who has a chatty bird in their chest, medical forums would call him a Terror. From the moment Gail emerged between Owen's ribs, his mother knew that she had to hide him away from the world. After a decade spent in hiding, Owen takes a brazen trip outdoors in the middle of a forest fire, and his life is upended forever.
Suddenly, Owen is forced to flee the home that had once felt so confining and hide in plain sight with his uncle and cousin in Washington. There, he feels the joy of finding a family among friends; of sharing the bird in his chest and being embraced fully; of falling in love and feeling the devastating heartbreak of rejection before finding a spark of happiness in the most unexpected place; of living his truth regardless of how hard the thieves of joy may try to tear him down. But the threat of the Army of Acronyms is a constant, looming presence, making Owen wonder if he'll ever find a way out of the cycle of fear.
A heartbreaking yet hopeful novel about the things that make us unique and lovable, The Boy with a Bird in His Chest grapples with the fear, depression, and feelings of isolation that come with believing that we will never be loved, let alone accepted, for who we truly are, and learning to live fully and openly regardless.
Though Owen Tanner has never met anyone else who has a chatty bird in their chest, medical forums would call him a Terror. From the moment Gail emerged between Owen's ribs, his mother knew that she had to hide him away from the world. After a decade spent in hiding, Owen takes a brazen trip outdoors in the middle of a forest fire, and his life is upended forever.
Suddenly, Owen is forced to flee the home that had once felt so confining and hide in plain sight with his uncle and cousin in Washington. There, he feels the joy of finding a family among friends; of sharing the bird in his chest and being embraced fully; of falling in love and feeling the devastating heartbreak of rejection before finding a spark of happiness in the most unexpected place; of living his truth regardless of how hard the thieves of joy may try to tear him down. But the threat of the Army of Acronyms is a constant, looming presence, making Owen wonder if he'll ever find a way out of the cycle of fear.
A heartbreaking yet hopeful novel about the things that make us unique and lovable, The Boy with a Bird in His Chest grapples with the fear, depression, and feelings of isolation that come with believing that we will never be loved, let alone accepted, for who we truly are, and learning to live fully and openly regardless.
Editorial Reviews
"Lund has created a fable for our age: a modern coming of age full of love, desperation, heartache and magic. An honest celebration of life and everything we need right now in a book." -- Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Less
"Emme Lund's The Boy with a Bird in His Chest is a beautiful, tender book. I was deeply moved by this story; very caught up in the ways in which family, grief, love, queerness, and vulnerability all intersect. Lund's sentences are sweet and stick to your ribs. I found myself falling in love with these characters-these messy, deeply realized, fully lovable, and wonderfully human people. The Boy with a Bird in His Chest is a terrific first novel and Emme Lund is a profoundly gifted writer." -- Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things and With Teeth
"The Boy with a Bird in His Chest is a beautiful and atmospheric allegory for what we hide in the world, executed with tense lyricism." -- Christine Hyung-Oak Lee, author of Tell Me Everything You Don't Remember
"Emme Lund's The Boy with a Bird in His Chest is the queer coming of age novel I wish I'd had when I was a teenager. Funny and gutting, tender and scorchingly honest, surreal and a little too real, this novel captures the pain and joy of learning to live with your body and all its desires. The Boy with a Bird in His Chest reads like The Perks of Being a Wallflowers written by Kelly Link. Lund's vision is striking, resonant, and unforgettable." -- Alex McElroy, author of The Atmospherians, a New York Times Editors' Choice
"Lund's accomplished debut imagines an LGBTQ allegory with a blend of magical fantasy and stark reality. [. . .] Lund's emotive prose treats Owen's burgeoning development with grace and care. This fine effort succeeds at bringing new life to the coming-of-age story." ― Publishers Weekly
"A lovely piece of magical realism . . . the strangeness sets it apart from other coming-of-age stories. Embrace magic and suspend your disbelief and this novel may just take you on a beautiful, necessary journey." ― Kirkus Reviews
"The burden of living with a secret is poignantly rendered and illuminating for those who seek to understand living a life outside the ordinary." ― The Washington Post
"Emme Lund has managed to capture so many of these feelings and weave them naturally in a story about a boy with a bird in his chest." ― Porter House Review
"Lund's brilliant debut is unlike any other coming-of-age out there [...] This is an unputdownable and weirdly relatable book readers won't want to miss." ― Debutiful
"Lund's debut novel is a tender bildungsroman that deals honest...
"Emme Lund's The Boy with a Bird in His Chest is a beautiful, tender book. I was deeply moved by this story; very caught up in the ways in which family, grief, love, queerness, and vulnerability all intersect. Lund's sentences are sweet and stick to your ribs. I found myself falling in love with these characters-these messy, deeply realized, fully lovable, and wonderfully human people. The Boy with a Bird in His Chest is a terrific first novel and Emme Lund is a profoundly gifted writer." -- Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things and With Teeth
"The Boy with a Bird in His Chest is a beautiful and atmospheric allegory for what we hide in the world, executed with tense lyricism." -- Christine Hyung-Oak Lee, author of Tell Me Everything You Don't Remember
"Emme Lund's The Boy with a Bird in His Chest is the queer coming of age novel I wish I'd had when I was a teenager. Funny and gutting, tender and scorchingly honest, surreal and a little too real, this novel captures the pain and joy of learning to live with your body and all its desires. The Boy with a Bird in His Chest reads like The Perks of Being a Wallflowers written by Kelly Link. Lund's vision is striking, resonant, and unforgettable." -- Alex McElroy, author of The Atmospherians, a New York Times Editors' Choice
"Lund's accomplished debut imagines an LGBTQ allegory with a blend of magical fantasy and stark reality. [. . .] Lund's emotive prose treats Owen's burgeoning development with grace and care. This fine effort succeeds at bringing new life to the coming-of-age story." ― Publishers Weekly
"A lovely piece of magical realism . . . the strangeness sets it apart from other coming-of-age stories. Embrace magic and suspend your disbelief and this novel may just take you on a beautiful, necessary journey." ― Kirkus Reviews
"The burden of living with a secret is poignantly rendered and illuminating for those who seek to understand living a life outside the ordinary." ― The Washington Post
"Emme Lund has managed to capture so many of these feelings and weave them naturally in a story about a boy with a bird in his chest." ― Porter House Review
"Lund's brilliant debut is unlike any other coming-of-age out there [...] This is an unputdownable and weirdly relatable book readers won't want to miss." ― Debutiful
"Lund's debut novel is a tender bildungsroman that deals honest...
Readers Top Reviews
CS
4.5 Stars A beautifully shared coming-of-age story of the anguish of young love shared through a mystical, magical journey of a young boy named Owen who lives with a bird inside his chest. A bird who chatters away when she has an opinion she finds it necessary to share. After all, he is her home. There’s an old saying that home is where the heart is, and for this java sparrow named Gail, his body is her home. Gail wants to sing her story to the world, which, of course, isn’t safe for Owen. Ever since his mother knew about the bird she understood that it was something she had to help Owen appreciate that he must keep it a secret - just between the two of them. It doesn’t help their situation that there’s a doctor looking for them that knows about the bird in his chest. It is a rare condition, but a person with this condition is referred to as a Terror. The doctor searches all the online forums for help locating Owen, which places Owen in even more danger, so his mother sends him to live with his uncle and cousin in Washington. There, he lives a life he never had before. He attends school, and endeavors to navigate this new life, after spending most of his life hidden away inside the home where he’d lived with his mother. His life has changed, and slowly he begins to find himself opening up to others. First his cousin Tennessee, and as time passes he lets others in, and while he isn’t always accepted by those who can’t tolerate those who are ‘different,’ he realizes that he isn’t alone in how he wants to be seen. But, in finally being seen, he opens himself to be rejected by those who are intolerant of his differences, and who let it be known, as well. At times this is heartbreaking, the cruelty he endures by those who fear what makes him ‘different’- as though it were contagious. But the heartbreaking moments are balanced by love, and his realization that there are enough people that do love him, without conditions. It is then that he fully allows himself to believe in following his dreams, and living this life - the one he chose. Shared through a sprinkling of magical realism, this debut shares a tale of love, as well as a love story, a story of living a life fully by embracing your truths, and finding those who truly love you for who you are. Many thanks for the ARC provided by Atria Books
Constantine
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Genre: Contemporary + Magical Realism + LGBTQ Owen Tanner is a seventeen-year-old boy living with his mother. She isolates him from the outer world due to an extraordinary condition he suffers from. He has a hole in his chest and in that hole resides a bird called Gail! But one day Owen decides to get out of his cage and has to suffer some consequences which leads him to hide with his cousin Tennessee. This escape will open up many doors and opportunities for Owen. It also makes him understand himself and his feelings. This is a coming-of-age story with magical realism and lots of metaphors. I liked the relationship between Owen and his bird Gail. I feel every reader will interpret that bird into a particular thing. In the story, it is there but its presence is more of a metaphoric value. I feel most readers will be able to like the main character easily. The story focuses on the changes in Owen’s life and how he moved away from isolation to the open world. It is more about facing the world and facing your fears instead of living in their shadows. I feel the author brilliantly represented the character who is different than others and how people around him reacted to him, how much they liked him or tolerated him. That bird inside his chest represents his sexuality. It makes a lot of sense if you look at it that way. Although the author does not explicitly mention that it represents that but I strongly felt it from all the different factors in the story. For a debut novel, this was a truly nice tale that is well written and with loveable characters. Somehow I can say that its concept is similar to Nicola Yoon’s Everything Everything but with magical realism and LGBTQ elements. I feel many readers will be able to relate to Owen and his story. Many thanks to the publisher Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book.
