The Key to the Golden Firebird

The Key to the Golden Firebird
Maureen Johnson, 2004, 297 p.

I've enjoyed Maureen Johnson's Girl at Sea and 13 Little Blue Envelopes, so I decided to give this, her first book, a try.

Loved it.

It was...poignant. Yeah, I thought so. I just looked up poignant and not only is it "affecting" but also "neat and skillful." The book has a great opening page, and that just leads to a great book. I was hooked the whole time. You really feel like you get to know 16 year old May and her family through the course of the story. I didn't have any difficulty relating to her. It's realistic fiction, and I found the scenarios and characters very realistic -- but again with that chuckle-out-loud mj humor. It is one of those books that has a satisfactory ending, but still leaves you thinking about it. "But what about...?" And "I wonder what's going to happen when..."

Anyway, I liked it the best of the three that I've read by her, and that's saying something because I liked the other two. Fortunately, the hardback doesn't have such a weird cover, although I guess they recently re-released the paperback with one that "matches" her other covers more. So since the (hardback) cover isn't at all embarrassing, you have no excuse not to read it!