In a poignant and unflinching new realistic novel from the Newbery MedalтАУwinning author of Bridge to Terabithia, a ten-year-old girl makes a deal with God for her father's safe return from the Iraq War.
Birdie has questions for God. For starters, why couldnтАЩt God roll history back to September 10, 2001, and fix thingsтАФso the next day was an ordinary sunny day and not the devastating lead-in to two wars? Daddy has already been to Iraq twice. Now heтАЩs going again, and Birdie is sure heтАЩll die. At the very least, she wonтАЩt see him again for a year, and everything will not be OK. (Why do grown-ups lie?) To save money, she, Mom, and baby Billy have moved to GranтАЩs, where shy Birdie must attend a new school, and no one but bossy Alicia Marie Suggs welcomes her. DoesnтАЩt God remember how hard it was for Birdie to make friends at Bible Camp? Counselor Ron taught about Judgment thereтАФand the right way to believe. Has Birdie been praying wrong? Why else would God break their bargain? Readers of all faiths and backgrounds, especially children of military families, will identify with and root for the unforgettable Birdie, given inimitable voice by a master storyteller.