Could you imagine the world after the apocalypse? The book I am reviewing , The Hermit Thrush Sings, is about a world after the “disaster” happened . The disaster is when a giant meteor collided with the Earth. 

         The story takes place in the former sate of Maine. It is in Village 3. It also took place in the "Ghost Town" (A village that was wrecked by the disaster), Village 15, and Rebel’s Island. All the villages were deceiving because the Rulers lied about every other village to keep all the people from uniting against them. The rulers also forbid talking about the time before the disaster, and they lied about the new species of plants that were created after the disaster. The rulers said they were poisonous, but they were perfectly safe. The settings are exciting because there is a ghost town and a rebel’s island, and the main character makes friends with the birmbas (an ape/bear mutation that came into existence after the disaster). The settings are dangerous because Leora's remaining family didn’t care for her much. The Institute (a place where people with mutations were sent) was out to get the main character because of her deformed hand. And also Wilfert, the guard, was out to get her because he hated her mutated hand.

         The main character was about nine, and her name was Leora. One of her hands was webbed, but she was very talented with drawing pictures and writing. Leora was very brave because she went and joined with the rebel’s cause. She also risked the woods that surrounded the villages where a number of dangers lurked. She was frightened by the birmbas at first, and she was afraid of Wilfert and the guards and of people seeing her hand. She is intelligent because she was able to find her real sister. She was also able to get Wilfert’s keys from Wiggala the birmba. She also switched the guards ammunition with the food stores so the guards burned their ammunition instead. Leora was the one who helped the guards with hands power to draw pictures of the future.

         The conflict in this story is the conflict between Leora and Wilfert which turns into the conflict between the rebels and the guards. It begins when Leora escapes from Village 3, when she enters Village 15, and when she gets to Rebel’s Island. I think the theme of this story is it doesn’t matter what a person looks like, it’s the person’s actions that count.

         I thought that the book was very well written. The author had a lot of creativity. The author could have improved the book by putting in more imagery. I didn’t see a lot of it in this book, except during some important events. This book is a great book, but it isn’t the best out there by far. I would recommend this novel because of the moving plot, the action, and the excitement. You would never guess that this book was what it was by the title….  :)