Gray skies and bare branches are the somber winter backdrop for a serious picture book about a young boy trying to make sense of tragedy and sadness. Mehkai’s nickname is Bird, and birds are one of the many things he likes to draw. He also likes spending time with Uncle Son, an old friend of his grandfather’s. “I like talking to Uncle Son ’cause he treats me like I’m grown, not like I’m some little kid who can’t understand anything.” Bird talks to Uncle Son about what happened to his older brother, Marcus, who taught Bird to draw and always encouraged him. But Marcus began taking drugs, and as the sickness of addiction overwhelmed him he was less and less the brother Bird knew. Bird wanted to know how to fix Marcus, but his Granddad explained some things can’t be fixed. Marcus’s death was followed by the death of Bird’s heartbroken grandfather. Now Bird finds solace in drawing pictures, listening to Uncle Son, who tells him a story about their African American ancestors flying to freedom, and thinking about his brother and grandfather “high above the clouds, where everything is calm and still.” (Ages 8–12)

Young Mekhai, better known as Bird, loves to draw. With drawings, he can erase the things that don't turn out right. In real life, problems aren't so easily fixed.

As Bird struggles to understand the death of his beloved grandfather and his older brother's drug addiction, he escapes into his art. Drawing is an outlet for Bird's emotions and imagination, and provides a path to making sense of his world. In time, with the help of his grandfather's friend, Bird finds his own special somethin' and wings to fly.

Told with spare grace, Bird is a touching look at a young boy coping with real-life troubles. Readers will be heartened by Bird's quiet resilience, and moved by the healing power of putting pencil to paper.

Bird, the recipient of Lee & Low's New Voices Award Honor, is the first picture book of both Zetta Elliot and Shadra Strickland.