Birdie’s Bargain by Katherine Paterson

Birdie makes a bargain with God in this middle grades book about a girl wrestling with faith, with God’s love, and with relationships.

Birdie’s Bargain by Katherine Paterson. Candlewick, 2021. 240 pages.

Reading Level: Middle grades, ages 10-12

Recommended For: Middle grades, ages 9-12

I will love you and Jesus and be a witness in the world if—if you will just keep my Daddy safe. Okay? Deal?

~p. 15 (from the Advance Reader Copy; quotation may differ slightly in the published version)

Birdie’s dad has just been deployed to Iraq for a whole year, and she and her mother and brother have moved in with her grandmother. New city, new home, new school, and no dad. And her baby brother is pretty new, too, come to think of it. Any one of those would be a challenge, but the collective impact is almost more than Birdie can bear. After making her bargain with God, she wears her “I {heart} Jesus” t-shirt every. single. day. as part of her “witness.” She soon makes a new friend from her new school: Alicia. Alicia always has big plans but somehow Birdie doesn’t have much voice in the plans. Thanks to Birdie’s astute Gran, Birdie begins to read between the lines of Alicia’s struggles. Finally, she must make a very hard decision, a decision that causes her to wonder if she’s being a Judas, betraying both God and Alicia. And then, her dad comes home. She’s not sure if God kept His end of the bargain, though, because her dad is not quite the same as when he went away….

Paterson has often dealt with hard situations in her novels for children. Bridge to Terebithia, one of her most famous, grappled with the death of a child. The Great Gilly Hopkins reckoned with foster care. Birdie’s Bargain continues in the same vein, but this time Paterson tackles more than one meaty issue {spoiler alerts coming}: deployment of a military parent and his return as a disfigured, wounded vet and the weighty issue of child abuse (Alicia). Along the way, Birdie naturally wrestles with her tenuous faith. Much of that fledgling faith was forged in the fires of Bible camp the previous summer, and much of that theology was suspect. Unfortunately, some of her beloved Gran’s theology is also suspect, as we find in the final chapters of the novel. Gran has been the wise owl in this story, protecting her nest as only a grandmother can. The depiction of her relationship with her granddaughter is worth reading the novel for. But if your young readers pick up this book, do be sure to check in with them about the theology issues mentioned below in the considerations. Kudos to Mrs. Paterson for respecting her young readers, acknowledging the many difficulties we face in our earthly sojourns, and for asking good questions. Just don’t expect her writing to offer the solutions to those questions that we should be looking for in Scripture instead.

Considerations:

• Language: Slang (jeez, goldurn, etc.) and profanity. Birdie is clearly an ordinary kid who is angry, frustrated, and confused. Her thoughts and journal reflect that in the language she uses. Birdie definitely prays to God, frequently. But she also begins to take the Lord’s name in vain as she approaches her crisis of faith.
• Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret is referred to; of possible note if your children are the type to explore book rabbit trails.
• Discussion: Be sure you talk about Gran’s theology (bordering on universalism as in, belief isn’t necessary to go to heaven) as well as the Bible camp theology Birdie learned (works-based). Thankfully, God’s grace is bigger and more beautiful than both of these extremes!

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

• Worldview/Moral Rating: 4 out of 5
• Literary/Artistic Rating: 4 out of 5

Read more about our ratings here.

Related Reading From Redeemed Reader

• Reviews Mentioned Above: The Great Gilly Hopkins and Bridge to Terebithia
• Picture Book Reviews: Some of Paterson’s recent picture books illustrate the same universalist tendencies shown in “Gran’s” theology from Birdie’s Bargain: Brother Sun, Sister Moon; Giving Thanks; The Night of His Birth
• A Review: The Flint Heart by Katherine Paterson (lovely illustrated chapter book/children’s novel)

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