“The word sorry erupted from her like a train, its horn blaring.”
17 Homo sapiens and Bookers’ very well-behaved strawberry loving mascot, five-month-old micro teacup Schnauzer named Beretta Russo, met at the home of Debbie Yarger to discuss this coming-of-age novel set in the 1980s in Northwest Washington State.
Food for Thought:
There is a metaphor about recognizing the people who have ‘packed your parachute’ meaning those who have offered guidance and encouragement needed to overcome challenges and succeed. Take a moment to reflect on those who enabled you to get to where you are today and thank them for believing in your potential. Many of my parachute packers are sitting in this room today and all the others near and far hold a special place in my heart.
Business:
Our next meeting will be February 10th 10:00 a.m. at the home of Kittie Minick, 372 St. Andrews Drive, Pinnacle Golf Club. We will be discussing Speak To Me of Home by Jeanine Cummins, a multigenerational saga told through the voices of three women navigating the complex terrain between Puerto Rico and the American Midwest, exploring what it means to call a place home.
Tickets for PWC’s major fundraiser, Casino Night on February 28, 2026, are selling fast with a maximum limit of 200. Help our organization to benefit over 20 local nonprofit organizations in Henderson and Kaufman counties by supporting this event. Tickets are available at https://pwccf.ejoinme.org/2026event until February 16th. $125.00 per person.
Susan Cunyus has volunteered to take care of wrapping the baskets for the Casino Night’s auctions. She needs baskets of all sizes or decorative boxes; ribbon…any color or amount, and filler paper like you would add to a clear gift bag. If you can help, feel free to leave your donations on her front porch, 395 St. Andrews Drive.
Suzy and Kurt Penner have filled a need in our community by coordinating recycling efforts at their home at 119 St. Andrews Drive. Every Tuesday we can drop off aluminum cans which they in turn take to their church which helps support eighteen local charities. On the first Wednesday of every month, they accept all types of glass, rinsed out and without lids and are adding ONLY plastic drinking bottles, also rinsed and without lids on that same date.
Patsy Dehn extended an invitation to their Pinnacle Church Women’s Luncheon to be held at the Pinnacle Club on Saturday, January 31, 2026, 12;00-2:30 featuring keynote speaker, Kylie Jean Tannehill. Please contact Patsy at 214-478-5135 or patsydehn@gmail.com for more information on this very special event.
About the Author:
A keen student of the workings of the human heart and the natural world, Pacific Northwest author Cheryl Grey Bostrom captures the mystery and wonder of both in her lyrical fiction. Sugar Birds and Leaning on Air, which is set twelve years later as ornithologist, Celia Burke, and veterinary surgeon, Burnaby Hayes plunge into a romance, have received critical acclaim and more than two dozen fiction awards. What the River Keeps, which features a reclusive biologist who returns to her childhood home where she must untangle her mysterious past or lose her mind, was awarded a prized Kirkus Star and named to their Best Indies Book of June 2025. She is also working on a sequel to Sugar Birds…working title, Because of Burnaby. She lives in rural Washington State with her husband and a pack of half-trained Gordon setters.
I reached out to Cheryl to let her know we had selected Sugar Birds for our January meeting, and she emailed me a “book club kit” with some inside information and discussion questions. She also is offering a giveaway for just our book club of either a paperback or audiobook of any one of her novels, Sugar Birds, Leaning on Air, or What the River Keeps. Anyone interested? If so, let me know and I’ll forward your email to her, and she’ll notify me of the winner. She’ll also add your name to her once-a-month letter and will include her nature photography and musings.
Sugar Birds evolved from a sketch she submitted to a critique group about a young, rural girl who hid in the woods after she accidentally lit a horrific fire. Afterwards that girl began awakening Cheryl at night, seeing her in trees as she went through her days and before long, memories from her own childhood resurfaced…hours climbing to perilous heights in Pacific Northwest fir trees, seeking solace from a tough home life in the rugged forest she knew so well, and the story unfolded from there. She thinks everyone should do at least once in their lives – something hard, brave…and alone. Her hope is that readers will recognize the story of human resilience written in a suspenseful narrative that highlights both tender and broken relationships, and a tale filled with awe, forgiveness, and redemption and where each of us runs and hides from heartbreak and how we deal with tragedy.
Synopsis:
For years, Harris Hayes taught his daughter, Agate, nicknamed, Aggie, the ways of the northern woods. So, when her mother’s depression worsens, he shows the ten-year-old how to find and sketch the nests of wild birds as an antidote to sadness. Aggie loves nothing more than climbing the massive fir trees that stand near her family home and is perched in a tree far overhead when her unpredictable mother spots her demanding she stay on the ground, forbidding her to climb. Angry and sulking over the recent punishment, Aggie lights a small campfire that unintentionally torches the woods by her family’s cabin burning it to the ground. Believing her parents are dead and afraid of what might happen if she’s blamed for the crime, she flees downriver, landing her boat near the untamed forest where she hides among the trees and creatures, whom she considers her only friends, determined to remain undiscovered.
Meanwhile, sixteen-year-old, Celia Burke, upset at her parent’s breakup, is dropped off by her father at her grandmother’s house for an undetermined amount of time…far away from her life and friends in Houston. She also plans to flee the scene, but when she learns of the fire and that Aggie is missing, she joins the hunt and meets two irresistible young men – one autistic and the other dangerous – and she’s compelled to stay and can’t help but get involved in the search for Aggie.
As Aggie tries to stay alive and Celia attempts to find her, their stories become increasingly intertwined. Aggie’s character is scrappy and she knows how to survive off the land while Celia is full of suburban angst and sarcasm…but both are equally strong characters whose strengths and weaknesses feed off each other.
Tidbits of Interest:
Anyone familiar with fuzz sticks also known as feather sticks? Maybe if you were a Girl Scout or a Campfire Girl you might have been introduced to these. They’re short sticks of dead wood prepared to create a cluster of thin curls used as a fire starter when dry tinder is scarce. Aggie used this to start the fire that burned down their home.
It wasn’t until late in the story – page 248 – in the paperback edition that we learned what the title, Sugar Birds, meant. I spent too much time Googling and came up only with a South African songbird which didn’t make much sense for this novel. It’s a term used by Celia’s grandfather to describe someone desperate, scratching, pecking, and clawing for a sweet seed that will soothe an aching heart. Celia says, “we’re all sugar birds.” Something to ponder.
“Consider the birds” appears in the books’ front matter – Matthew 6:26 which is a powerful message illustrating birds do not worry about their needs, yet God provides for them – a reminder that if He cares for the smallest creatures, He will certainly take care of us like a loving parent. And birds symbolize freedom – the ability to soar high and break from limitations- physically, emotionally, and spiritually representing hope and change in the novel.
Forgiveness is the gift we give ourselves. It’s a journey to let go of anger and resentment towards those we feel have wronged us. Aggie’s path to forgive her Mama and herself was necessary for healing her trauma. She did this by acknowledging her feelings toward her Mama and why she felt that way and examined how she viewed herself and why. Aggie made a conscious decision to let go of the negative thoughts and preconceived notions she had unfairly formed and absorbed the reality that her Mama’s illness caused her actions and were not directed at Aggie as a form of punishment, tough love, or lack of love.
Most loved and most loathed characters? Burnaby’s autistic character was developed with authenticity…brutally honest, loyal, and reliable. Cabot of course was the character everyone loved to hate, however, his caustic personality was well developed with the contrast between his sugar-coated nature and conniving personality was convincing. If he had any redeeming qualities besides his good looks, they were well hidden.
Rating System Discussion:
0 – our new category – I wouldn’t recommend to my worse enemy.
1 – put your money back in the piggy bank
2 – borrow, don’t buy
3 – good beach read
4 – borders on your favorite book ever
5 – order now, include in you will.
It’s a well-known assumption that if you pick a book that most everyone loves, the discussion suffers. The book selection committee tested that theory with Sugar Birds and as it turns out we were successful…we had a lively conversation with the majority of the comments centered around too much attention to the details of the story and the setting and not enough character development; the plot didn’t move until the end and then it felt rushed; too much about trees, bones, birds, and dissecting animals rather than more about Aggie’s mother’s mental illness issues. Several ranked it as a “good beach read” with some concern that a ten-year-old child could be resourceful enough to survive the elements on her own; and two went out on a limb (catch the tree analogy – LOL) with strong 4s touting outstanding characters – 3 courageous, resilient, spunky kids – a lyrical novel filled with life lessons; and the other one loved being transported to the Pacific Northwest, the interactions between the characters, the symbolism of birds, the themes of forgiveness and how that journey resulted in the healing process and applauded how the author tied up all the ends. I personally love the fact we can as a group freely and without judgment share our thoughts as it has always been the mission of Bookers to foster conversation. Thank you for making the second Tuesday, September through May enjoyable and memorable!
On a positive note, next month’s read is receiving good feedback from several Bookers so if we all sit around on our hands in February, we’ll test our theory once again!
Happy Reading,
JoDee
