Birdland
Opinion--
If I were to rate this book it would be a 9-10. This reason is because it’s not the book I expect the story to be really good. This book is about Jed and Flyer. They are filming a documentary of their neighborhood until they run into someone that can help Jed. Jed’s brother Zeke died young and he is trying to connect to his brother. Zeke died of diabetes. Zeke was in a band before he died and he was called Bird.
Summary—
Jed and Flyer are out in their town filming a documentary. They went from Avenue A to Avenue B and so on. After that they went into the subway to get some money from playing music. They didn’t get much. Then a drunken guy came up and talks crap about their music so they left. On their way out Jed noticed a girl who he thinks can help him connect to Zeke. Later on Jed and Kiki (the girl) become good friends and he helps her. He helps her get into school and he lets her live with him. They go to school and they present the documentary to the class and his brothers poems.

Jed and his family are trying to cope with the death of his older brother. They’re not sure if he killed himself or if his death was accidental. Jed finds it difficult to speak to anyone except Flyer without stuttering. Jed’s father buries himself with work and stops participating in some of the families Jewish traditions. Flyer, Jed’s best friend, is trying to cope with his parents separation and likely divorce. In the mean time, Jed and Flyer are creating a documentary about their neighborhood. Jed tries to help Kiki, a homeless girl, who he believes his dead brother Zeke may have been writing about in his journal.This book is a very quick read and may appeal to reluctant readers. In general, it's appropriate for middle school readers and above. ( )

Fourteen-year-old, tongue-tied Jed spends winter break working on a school project filming a documentary about his East Village, New York City, neighborhood, where he is continually reminded of his older brother, Zeke, a promising poet who died the year before. ( )