The winner of the Delacorte Yearling Prize for a First Middle-Grade Novel combines a sympathetic, unusual heroine with a spy drama set on the home front during World War II.  On December 7th, 1941, just as the family gets ready to cut the cake for Bird McGill's eleventh birthday, President Roosevelt announces the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Things change quickly in Bird's hometown in coastal Rhode Island. Her father joins the Air Force, and when a Japanese American boy named Kenji, whose parents are in an internment camp, joins her class, everyone is sure that he and his uncle are spies. Kenji and Bird's efforts to convince the authorities of an ongoing spy conspiracy bring them closer together, but then Kenji's uncle becomes the main suspect in a murder and sabotage case at the local plane-engine factory. Will Bird be able to collect enough evidence to bring the truth to light? Ferrari's fast-paced plot and well-developed characters will keep readers engaged until the last page.--Schroder, Monika Copyright 2009 Booklist

Ferrari's novel, which won the Delacorte Yearling Prize for debut middle-grade authors, takes readers on a high-flying, nail-biting historical adventure that is uplifting and just good fun. Set during WWII in a sleepy Rhode Island town, Ferrari's story is narrated by an imaginative preteen girl whose nothing-can-stop-me attitude will appeal to readers of both sexes. Sixth-grader Bird McGill loves flying airplanes with her dad. But when he joins the war effort, Bird feels like she's lost her only ally. Then Kenji, a guarded Japanese boy, shows up in her class. As he becomes an even bigger outcast and bully-target than her ("Why don't you go home to Japland," sneers a classmate), Bird reluctantly befriends him. Together, Bird and Kenji stumble upon suspicious activity in their hometown and vow to unravel the mystery. Ferrari weaves in period details, but wisely keeps the focus on the duo's antics and fragile, budding friendship. As danger grows, so does their trust in and reliance on each other. Readers will be anxious to learn the fate of these two daring kids and the spy they are determined to derail. Ages 8-12. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Gr 5 Up-Ferrari's debut novel (Delacorte, 2009) takes place in a small Rhode Island town at the time Pearl Harbor is bombed and the United States enters World War II. Bird is just turning 11, has a passion for flying airplanes, and wants to be a fighter pilot when she grows up. When Kenji, a Japanese-American boy, enters Bird's class, everyone thinks that he and his uncle are spies. Bird befriends him, and they discover evidence of an enemy submarine in the area. The story features men leaving for war and, sadly, never coming back; a draft dodger; and a Nazi spy who is hidden in plain sight. There's plenty of adventure in this action-packed story, including a local murder solved by Bird and Kenji. Listeners get a complete home front experience, including a nod to the popular culture of the times with references to Abbot and Costello, John Wayne, the Andrew Sisters, and the popular The Green Hornet radio program. Narrator Rachel Dulude does an eloquent job of portraying Bird's range of emotions as the girl processes life-changing events, and her use of tone and pacing helps listeners keep track of a full cast of characters. There's a thorough endnote that delivers historical facts as they relate to the story. Highly recommended for all libraries and for fans of Patricia Reilly Giff's Lily's Crossing (Delacorte, 1997).-Terri Norstrom, Cary Area Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(Intermediate) Set at the onset of World War II (the bombing of Pearl Harbor happens at the end of the first chapter), Ferrari's debut novel is chock-full of both action and theme. Eleven-year-old Bird, known for her overactive imagination, has few -- okay, make that no -- friends. Only her mechanic father understands her and her passion for flying. When he joins up and is sent overseas, Bird feels lost, so when a stranger comes to her small Rhode Island town, she's ripe for companionship. This new friend is Kenji, who, in the parlance of the book and the times, is a "Jap"; his parents are imprisoned in Manzanar and, yes, he's distrusted by the locals. While fishing on the Atlantic shore, the two spot a submarine, but their story is dismissed as a ridiculous tale from two misfits seeking attention. In fact, there is a spy in their midst, with plans to kill President Roosevelt. Bird and Kenji uncover the spy's identity and thwart the plan, with Bird taking the wheel of a P-40 Warhawk fighter plane in a race to save the president. There's enough detail about the times, the characters, and the airplanes to keep the narrative from becoming too over-the-top -- but just barely. All in all, it's a spirited flyover of the home front, family tragedy, and national prejudice. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Eleven-year-old outcast Bird McGill feels she was born to fly. Luckily, her father's work as a plane mechanic gives her the opportunity. In her small Rhode Island town, her imaginative stories aren't taken seriously, but she really did see an enemy submarine in the bay in 1942. When she and her new friend, Kenji Fujita, try to take its picture, she stumbles onto a corpse and a murderous spy. It is her passion for the P-40 airplane flown by pilots at a nearby airfield that keeps other lives from being lost. Ferrari successfully recreates a time early in World War II, when anti-Japanese sentiment was high and fathers went to war and didn't always return. Birdie's first-person voice is convincing, and the narrative moves briskly. With this debut, the author aims to provide the kind of adventure for girls that boys often enjoy in children's books. Middle-grade readers of either gender looking for suspenseful historical fiction won't notice that the combination of events adds up to an unlikely story, but they will enjoy Bird's flight. (Historical fiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.