A painfully shy teenager faces the traumas she has experienced in her life and the social anxiety that makes it difficult for her to make friends.

14-year-old Sparrow is found on the roof of her school in Brooklyn. Assuming she is about to jump, 911 is called, she goes to a mental hospital, and is released back to her mother. That is where we begin. In Part I, we are teased relentlessly wondering why Sparrow was on the roof if she wasn't suicidal, and why if that wasn't the case, she won't tell anybody the real reason.
In Part II, we learn the real reason, which is (spoiler alert) that she likes to picture herself becoming a bird and flying away from her life. She doesn't like her life because she is introverted to the point of dysfunction, never in her life having had a real friend. We alternate between Sparrow's life at home and at school, with sessions with her therapist, Dr. Katz. (In spite of the seemingly ominous metaphor of a Dr. Katz helping a girl named Sparrow, the therapist is a normal psychologist, actually trying to help.)
In Part III, Sparrow goes off to a girls rock camp for several weeks during the summer, where, eventually, she does make friends and begin to open herself up.
It is a long slow slog through Parts I and II. Sparrow seems to be suffering from clinical depression, and she doesn't grow much during those first two parts, there are hardly any characters other than Sparrow, her mother, and Dr. Katz, and plot-wise, not much happens. It felt like each chapter was a bit of a repeat of previous chapters. In Part III, things liven up. Sparrow begins to change inwardly, there are several new characters with whom she can interact, and things actually happen in the story. I think the entire first two thrids of the book should have been condensed into a few chapters, and Part III expanded and developed more. I would have loved to get to know Spike, Lara and Tanasia better. ( )

Literary merit: good
Characterization: good
Recommend: Yes
Reading level: lower high school

The author did a good job at developing the characters in the book. The reader immediately wants to read to find out what is going on with Sparrow. As Sparrow goes through things in her life, you feel for her and the problems she has faced. I liked that, so far anyway, they are treating therapy as a good thing and not something that should be avoided. It seems to be helping the character in the book. ( )