Wild Bird by Wendelin Van Draanen

     Wild Bird is a novel by Wendelin Van Draanen that follows the story of 14-year-old Wren. The story starts off with an intense scene in which Wren is woken up in the middle of the night and taken away in a cop car by two strangers. It is later learned that she is being taken to an 8-week wilderness therapy program in Utah as a last effort from her concerned parents. They do this because after starting high school, Wren falls in with a bad group of friends and her behavior noticeably changes. She begins using drugs, lying, and shoplifting and is out of control. When Wren figures out what is happening, she is very angry and upset at first for obvious reasons. She is completely oblivious to the way she acts and wants nothing more than to go back home. During her time at the wilderness therapy camp, she is introduced to structure and consequences for the first time. In addition to this, she meets people that are going through similar things and begins to understand what true friends are, unlike the ones that used and mistreated her. She also starts to see the damage that her past behavior has done to those around her, and reconsiders the kind of person she wants to be. Throughout her time spent in Utah, Wren develops from an out-of-control teen to a very different person.

    Wild Bird is one of my favorite books, and I've reread it a few times now. To me, it is one of those books that you can’t put down once you start reading. The author writes it in a way so that you aren’t able to anticipate what is to come, which I know can be very tricky to do. There are quite a few cliffhangers that leave the reader in great suspense, which I really enjoy. It is also interesting to read about a character that is experiencing so many intense emotions at once, and I think the author portrays it really well.

When I reread this book a few weeks ago after last reading it 2 years ago, I had a very different experience. I recently learned about the stigma surrounding wilderness therapy programs because of the abuse that sometimes occurs. It definitely changed the way I read this novel because I noticed a few strange behaviors from the people that ran the program that I didn’t pay attention to before. I’m glad I decided to reread this book with a new perspective because it really changed my view on certain characters.

In conclusion, I really liked this book and I have for a while. It’s really well written and hard to put down once you start reading. I would definitely recommend this book because it has many good aspects. 

- Lena