Mary Quattlebaum
Each short chapter is narrated by a different sibling: snarky India, worrywart Finn and whimsical "child genius" Mouse. These constant shifts in perspective create suspense and contribute to the novel's eerie, dreamlike quality. The humdinger of an ending helps explain this off-kilter world while leaving much to ponder.
—The Washington Post
MARCH 2011 - AudioFile
Narration by three narrators makes sense for a story with a quickly shifting reality. Jessie Bernstein portrays 12-year-old Finn, who’s tense with worry about the foreclosure of his family’s home and his mother’s plan to send her children to their Colorado uncle. Becca Battoe depicts Finn’s 14-year-old sister, India, who’s sullen and resentful at being responsible for her young, eccentric sister, Mouse. Tara Sands's lilting high pitch convinces listeners of Mouse’s happy acceptance when an hour’s plane trip brings the siblings to Falling Bird, an unsettling place that appeals to each of their individual sensibilities—at first. Because all three narrators establish a strong sense of character, the tensions that divide the three heroes add a chilling quality to an action-packed puzzle. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
An odd juxtaposition of contemporary reality and surreal fantasy from Newbery Honoree Choldenko. Surly India, worrywart Finn and smartypants Mouse are shipped off to Colorado to live with their uncle after their family home is lost to foreclosure. But too soon after take-off, their plane lands in a strange town named Falling Bird, where they are greeted like long-lost heroes and whisked off to three separate homes, each fully loaded with their heart's desires. Each child is given a clock that is counting down and told that when the time is up, a decision must be made to leave or stay. But leave or stay where? Colorado? Oz? Or somewhere else entirely? As always, the author shines in her characterization of children and their idiosyncratic kidspeak. Each sibling takes a turn in the narration, giving readers front-row seats to their psyches. But the convoluted mystery of Falling Bird isn't revealed until the very last pages, and by then some young readers may have lost interest in trying to interpret a Kafka-esque world with too few clues and a confusing host of secondary characters. Fascinating, if not entirely successful.(Fantasy. 10-14)
