Rita Murphy

This story of a young girl, who seems to have fallen from the sky with a star, lives in the Tennessee mountains with her adoptive parents. When she discovers that she has powers that she is not sure what to do with, she must figure out if she wants to give them back or find a way to use them for good.
Although this book is unusual, its pacing is slow and magical, and it feels good. It was not long, and I found that I didn't want to put it down. I'm sure it's meant to be a YA book, but I really enjoyed it.… (más)

As a child, Miranda was carried on the wind to Bourne Manor and taken in by the widow Wysteria Barrows. Wysteria gives her a place to live, work to do, and boots with steel plates to anchor her to the ground, lest she blow away on the next gust. But the house is cold and somehow menacing, and there are secrets in the house that Miranda can only hope to discover while she still has the opportunity to break free.

To call this "breezy" is to do it a disservice, but it does have the airy quality of being outside in a light wind. The lyrical writing drives the narrative, but feels a little bogged down in plot. There's a sense of desperation in Miranda that translates in the text to a subtle urgency, and the open-ended but hopeful conclusion makes this reader, at least, wish all the best for Miranda in her future endeavors.… (más)

Bird is a bewitching little story - as slight as Miranda herself, and as full of enchantment and wonder. Well-written and full of mystery, the plot is intriguing and interesting. What exactly is Miranda? And is Wysteria really the villain of the piece or is it the house itself? These questions and Rita Murphy's vivid descriptions of the coast kept me turning pages until the end. The only thing that I could have wished for would be more pages to help develop the story of Bourne Manor. I would have loved more on the history of the place and it's former inhabitants.

It was a short journey but one well worth my time, and I thoroughly enjoyed being lost within the pages. Bird is a delightful and whimsical mystery.… (más)

Heavy steel boots keep Miranda anchored, otherwise her slight frame would be snatched up and blown away by the wind. It's only one of the strange things about Miranda, whose life with the reclusive Wysteria in the oddly forbidding Bourne Manor is subject to all sorts of speculation by the locals. What is the secret of Bourne Manor? Will Miranda find out in time to escape?

A short, odd little book which is nevertheless very readable. Almost gothic in tone, the ending is strangely abrupt which is too bad, as the story deserves better.… (más)