Brooklyn, 1875: Bird Mallon lives on Water Street where you can see the huge towers of the bridge to Manhattan being built. Bird wants nothing more in life than to be brave enough to be a healer, like her mother, Nory, to help her sister Annie find love, and to convince her brother, Hughie, to stop fighting for money with his street gang. And of course, she wishes that a girl would move into the empty apartment upstairs so that she can have a new friend close by. But Thomas Neary and his Pop move in upstairs. Thomas who writes about his life in his journal--his father who spends each night at the Tavern down the street, the mother he wishes he had, and the Mallon family downstairs that he desperately wants to be a part of. Thomas, who has a secret that only Bird suspects, and who turns out to be the best friend Bird could ever have. Grade 4-8–This heartwarming novel continues the saga begun in Nory Ryans Song (Delacorte, 2000) and Maggies Door (Random, 2003). With the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge as background, the story is told from the alternating perspectives of Bridget (Bird) Mallon and Thomas Neary, from the time that they are nearly 13 until they are 14. Bird is the youngest child of Nory and Sean Mallon, who came from Ireland to Brooklyn to escape the poverty and hopelessness of the potato famine. Thomas moves with his father into the tenement where the Mallons live. Mr. Neary spends most of his time at a neighborhood pub, and where the boys mother is remains a mystery for much of the book. A strong friendship develops between the young teens. The creation of the bridge looms as a dream that parallels the dreams of the characters. Bird, a bright, sensitive girl, wants to follow in her mothers path and become a healer, but she discovers that the road is not without obstacles. Thomas dreams of becoming a writer and of having a family like the Mallons. Though the plot is somewhat predictable and the likable characters are a bit stereotyped, Giff masterfully integrates the historical material and presents a vivid picture of the immigrant struggle in the 1870s. –Renee Steinberg, formerly at Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Gr. 5-8. Continuing the Irish American immigration story begun in Nory Ryan's Song (2000) and Maggie's Door (2003), Giff's new novel, set in 1875, is about the next generation. Nory and Sean's daughter, Bridget ("Bird"), 13, befriends a lonely boy, Thomas, who lives upstairs with his father in Brooklyn. From their tenement windows they can see the building of the bridge and the structure's great towers. Bird's dad has a job there, and the construction is both fact and metaphor. Bird would like to be a nurse-midwife like Mama, but the work is sometimes hard and scary. The story is told from the alternating viewpoints of Bird and Thomas; Bird's loving family takes Thomas in, and the two young people help each other at school and on the street. The happily-ever-after ending never denies the harsh struggle; the memory of what drove them from the Old Country is always there, as is the mantra "We have to better ourselves." A poignant immigration story of friendship, work, and the meaning of home. Hazel Rochman Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved “Historical fiction at its best.”–Kirkus Reviews, Starred “A poignant immigration story of friendship, work, and the meaning of home.”–Booklist, Starred “Giff makes Bird’s Brooklyn so real you could touch it.”–The Horn Book “Giff masterfully integrates the historical material and presents a vivid picture of the immigrant struggle in the 1870s.”–School Library Journal From the Trade Paperback edition. Patricia Reilly Giff is the author of many beloved books for children, including the Kids of the Polk Street School books, the Friends and Amigos books, and the Polka Dot Private Eye books. Her novels for older readers include A House of Tailors, Nory Ryan's Song, and the Newbery Honor Books Lily's Crossing and Pictures of Hollis Woods. Her most recent book is Willow Run , a companion to Lliy's Crossing . The author lives in Trumbull, Ct.. chapter one bird Bird clattered down the stairs in back of Mama, past Mrs. Daley’s on the first floor, and Sullivan the baker at the window in front. Outside she and Mama held hands, swinging them back and forth as they hurried along Water Street. “Hot.” Bird squinted up at the sun that beat down, huge and orange. “Even this early,” Mama agreed. For a quick moment, they stopped to look at the tower standing by itself at the edge of the East River. One day it would be part of a great bridge. What would it be like to stand on top, arms out, seeing the world the way a bird would? she wondered. Bird, her nickname. She pulled her heavy hair off her neck. “Mrs. Daley says they’ll never be able to finish that bridge. She says it will collapse under its o