Official Review: Freedom Is For The Birds by JM Sutherland

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Momlovesbooks
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Official Review: Freedom Is For The Birds by JM Sutherland

Post by Momlovesbooks »

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Freedom Is For The Birds" by JM Sutherland.]
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4 out of 4 stars
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Freedom Is For The Birds by JM Sutherland is a fictional animal novel. It follows a family of red-tailed hawks as they travel to find and rebuild their old nest. Written from the point of view of the hawk, this book easily portrays the hardships and resulting perseverance of animals.

K'Lar and D'Ree are a pair of hawks that have left their summer home of Mexico to return to Canada. They want to find their old nest before D'Ree lays her next clutch of eggs. However, they arrive at their old nesting area to discover it has been destroyed to make room for human buildings. As they are desperately trying to find a new home, an older hawk, T'Nal, offers the use of his hunting area. He is widowed and alone. He quickly becomes family to the pair of hawks and their new brood.

The story continues with the day-to-day activities of the hawks as they teach their young fledglings about their world. They learn about humans from a wise, old owl who teaches all the young animals in the hunting area. They learn about Mother Nature and are taught to respect all life. They learn how to hunt for food and stay away from humans.

The rest of the book follows the lives of the hawk family and the adventures they have as they migrate to their winter home in Mexico. They must arrive in the Land of All Hawks by a certain date, when all the young hawks will pledge respect to their elders and be accepted into the Hawk community.

If you have a love for animals, this is definitely a book for you. The book appeared to be professionally edited and there were no noticeable errors. I was impressed with the writing style. The author writes from the hawks' point of view, while giving the different animals human emotions and qualities. I enjoyed having appendices provided at the end of the book to keep the many names and their relationships straight. The animals each have distinct personalities. They are brought to life and set against the beautiful backdrop of nature.

At first you might think this would be more of a children's book with talking animals. However, this book would appeal to all ages. The story is captivating and moves at a quick pace. It weaves a message of human pollution throughout the story, without detracting from the animals and their message of hope and perseverance. Based on the above observations, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I believe this book will be enjoyed by teens and adults that like something a little different. The author shows us a look at the world around us from an animal's point of view. The tale is thought-provoking and will make you wonder if humans really need to build that next housing development. The area is probably already home to many animals. Just something for us to think about.

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Freedom Is For The Birds
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MarisaRose
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Post by MarisaRose »

Sounds like a great book with a good message. I think it's interesting that the author wrote from the point of view of the hawks to make a point about the destruction humans are having on the habitats of many animals. Thanks for the insightful review!
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Post by chrisann2780 »

Loved the review. It definitely interested me. Am a bird lover, and enjoy hawks. I know I would enjoy this one since it is written from a human-like characteristics of all the animals. Believe children and adults would enjoy this one.
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Post by Lest92 »

I like the premise - I suppose it follows the familiar storylines of anthropomorphic animal stories, such as Black Beauty, Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Aesop's Fables, but the enduring magic of these stories are their universality and timelessness, which is why I think they will always appeal to people whatever their age. I think it takes an imaginative leap from the author to empathise with an animal to the extent that they can see the world from a non-human perspective. I'm interested in reading about life from a hawk's point of view, definitely. I like that your review hinted at an avian culture, but you still leave it to us to discover it on our own.
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Post by kimmyschemy06 »

I love it already. It seems like a very interesting book for kids that teaches valuable lessons to adults. Great job on the review. Congratulations to JM Sutherland on such a glowing review.
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Post by honeyhannyluvreading »

I love birds and I love reading about they. l love this book
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Post by kandscreeley »

Interesting. It does sound like it might be a children's book. It's an interesting concept for an adult book. Thanks for the review!
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Post by joshua00adee »

Sounds like a perfect book for all ages,especially those that have a love for animals.. nice review and nice book
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Post by gali »

A fictional animal tale written from the hawks' POV sounds unique. That the book not only portrays the trials of the animals, but also gives the animals distinct personalities is to its credit. Providing an appendices with the birds names is another bonus. I am not sure the book is for me, but I am glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for the review!
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Post by Elizabeth Pass »

Talking animals is common but I've never seen anything like this. What an interesting perspective on pollution and the effects humans have on the earth, and yet, the book seems hopeful and inspiring.
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Post by Ferdinand_Otieno »

I am particularly unfamiliar with the fiction anime genre, but this book was an excellent introduction that I found myself rating it 4 out of 4 stars. The onlinebookclub review of the book was the main reason for me deciding to read the book and it went beyond my expectations.
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Post by Mildred Tabitha »

This will be the first animal novel I will read about. I have never thought of reading this type of fiction before but based on your review, this seems to be a nice book. I am also glad I will have a chance to learn about Hawks and the challenges they face which I assume are mostly unknown to humans. Your review has captured important parts of the book that has made me curious. I'm already interested in this book.
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Post by DLaw_97 »

Sounds like a book I should look forward to but then I'm not a lover of animal adventures. So I reserve my comment about the story. Having no noticeable error and having good writing style shows it was grammatically written well.
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Post by Strangerthanfiction »

Nice review. This sounds like a great book for animal lovers, especially bird lovers. I think the opportunity to learn about hawks is interesting and the lesson about humans encroaching on wild life and the effects in animals is also an important message. Thanks so much for sharing.
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Post by Bukari »

Red-tailed hawks seeking their new life because of the activities of humanity. I think these hawks are more than what we think they are in reality. The Hawks have more developed brains and for that matter more knowledge and wisdom.
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