BIRDIE'S BARGAIN

Can a person really make a deal with God?

When her father’s National Guard unit gets deployed overseas for the third time, and 10-year-old Birdie, her mom, and her 6-month-old brother, Billy, have to move into her grandmother’s small house, Birdie is so upset she refuses to tell her father goodbye. Overcome with guilt after he leaves, she thinks back to the lessons she learned at the Bible camp her parents used as child care the summer before and promises God that she’ll behave and be a witness if he keeps her father safe. Then God seems to lead her to Alicia Marie, a troubled and troublesome girl in her new class who demands more than Birdie wants to give. Birdie does her best to live up to her promise to God—but Daddy is injured anyhow. Paterson’s writing is smooth and nuanced, but this novel lacks a defined narrative arc. Birdie learns to see the truth behind Alicia’s lies and exaggerations, but then Alicia, the most fully realized character, drops out of the story entirely. Birdie is reassured when she visits her father at Walter Reed hospital after he is flown back to the U.S. for treatment. She is also comforted some months later when her grandmother suggests a kinder version of God, but she doesn’t exhibit much growth on her own. Characters default to White.

Lovely prose and an intriguing family situation but insufficient character development.