Bird
Angela Johnson

Bird has left home intent on finding her stepfather and convincing him to return to her family. Ethan lives in the farmhouse Bird haunts and has just had a heart transplant. Jay is grieving the loss of his brother, whose heart now beats in Ethan's chest. Told in alternating voices, the three of them come to terms with their lives and find a way to spread a bit of happiness at the same time. This is as lyrical as Johnson's other books, and is a nice short read. However, I never found the search for the stepfather to be a compelling enough reason to live as Bird has, and the story didn't make sense to me. This came highly recommended at the OELMA conference, and I did enjoy it, but I didn't understand Bird very well. Still, Jay's storyline made the entire book worth reading. Recommended.