The Hunt for the Nightingale

Gr 3-7–Nine-year-old Jasper loves his older sister Rosie, who takes him bird-watching and helps him deal with his severe anxiety when their parents are too busy to pay attention. Together they are writing The Big Book of Birds, filled with information about all the birds they find. Rosie promises to return from university to hunt for the nightingale that visits every spring, but she doesn’t return. Instead, their parents spend a lot of time behind closed doors and finally tell Jasper that Rosie is now, “in a better place.” Determined to find Rosie, Jasper leaves his parents a note and heads out on his own to catch a bus to the town of Dunton Mayfield where he thinks Rosie is with the nightingale. On his journey, Jasper meets several people who he helps find lost things and in return they help him find his way. As Jasper gets closer to his destination, he starts to learn that relying on people and dealing with grief is an important part of processing loss and death.