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A review by chickchick22
The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA by Brenda Woods
2.0
2.5 rated down.
“The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA” is a book about a young white boy who survived a near-death incident thanks to the quick movements of a black man looking for a job. Grateful, the boy, Gabriel, offers the man a job at his father’s auto shop. The man accepts, and through visits to the shop, the man, Meriwether, shares his story as a black man who served during WWII. As the story progresses, Gabriel’s eyes are opened more to the hardships of black people during that time, and learns kindness and caring through the unsung hero of Birdsong.
While this was a heartwarming story, there were a few issues that made the rating so low for a book with such potential.
1. Character development
Gabriel, the main character, has no real personality. All I know is that he has a crush on Rosie Riley (who comes out only two or three times!) and that he is a nice guy. The characters with real personalities were Abigail and Meriwether. Character development just…no. There was not enough…well, character in the characters for me to like them.
2. Climax/Plot
The intended climax, I think, was either when Meriwether came to Gabriel’s house with news of Abigail’s near-death experience or when Meriwether almost killed Lucas Shaw. However, each of these fit into one short chapter (5 pages + 5 pages) and I didn’t feel any tension or nervousness of “is he going to be ok? how will this end up?” because there was no build-up. Plus, both of these had nothing to do with Gabriel. He didn’t do anything too important; if these climaxes had more action in general or more action through Gabriel’s eyes, this book would feel so much more complete.
3. Speed
This book was honestly a really slow read. I felt like everything interesting and exciting happened far too fast, and the rest of the book was full of slow, not-very-action-packed events. I’m fine with spreading out a book (but not too much…) since it could really help with character development, showing relationships, or simple world-building and building up to the climax. But this book spread it out so much. If the climaxes were made longer, say, two or three chapters instead of one 5 page chapter, it would’ve been such a bigger, more exciting book.
•Overall•
I’m not trying to be mean, or to roast this book until it’s burnt: no. I’m saying that while the plot, the idea, and the lessons in this story are so so good, it was…delivered in a way that was underwhelming. More action or even simple character development would make worlds of a difference.
Overall, it was a good book with a good story, just told in a way that might not have delivered it in the intended “wow this book is so amazing” way. “The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA” could’ve been so much; it honestly had so so much potential and I am really sad and disappointed that I didn’t like it as much as I had hoped when I first picked it up.
“The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA” is a book about a young white boy who survived a near-death incident thanks to the quick movements of a black man looking for a job. Grateful, the boy, Gabriel, offers the man a job at his father’s auto shop. The man accepts, and through visits to the shop, the man, Meriwether, shares his story as a black man who served during WWII. As the story progresses, Gabriel’s eyes are opened more to the hardships of black people during that time, and learns kindness and caring through the unsung hero of Birdsong.
While this was a heartwarming story, there were a few issues that made the rating so low for a book with such potential.
1. Character development
Gabriel, the main character, has no real personality. All I know is that he has a crush on Rosie Riley (who comes out only two or three times!) and that he is a nice guy. The characters with real personalities were Abigail and Meriwether. Character development just…no. There was not enough…well, character in the characters for me to like them.
2. Climax/Plot
The intended climax, I think, was either when Meriwether came to Gabriel’s house with news of Abigail’s near-death experience or when Meriwether almost killed Lucas Shaw. However, each of these fit into one short chapter (5 pages + 5 pages) and I didn’t feel any tension or nervousness of “is he going to be ok? how will this end up?” because there was no build-up. Plus, both of these had nothing to do with Gabriel. He didn’t do anything too important; if these climaxes had more action in general or more action through Gabriel’s eyes, this book would feel so much more complete.
3. Speed
This book was honestly a really slow read. I felt like everything interesting and exciting happened far too fast, and the rest of the book was full of slow, not-very-action-packed events. I’m fine with spreading out a book (but not too much…) since it could really help with character development, showing relationships, or simple world-building and building up to the climax. But this book spread it out so much. If the climaxes were made longer, say, two or three chapters instead of one 5 page chapter, it would’ve been such a bigger, more exciting book.
•Overall•
I’m not trying to be mean, or to roast this book until it’s burnt: no. I’m saying that while the plot, the idea, and the lessons in this story are so so good, it was…delivered in a way that was underwhelming. More action or even simple character development would make worlds of a difference.
Overall, it was a good book with a good story, just told in a way that might not have delivered it in the intended “wow this book is so amazing” way. “The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA” could’ve been so much; it honestly had so so much potential and I am really sad and disappointed that I didn’t like it as much as I had hoped when I first picked it up.