Jack and Birdie

A beautifully warm and funny middle-grade story about twelve-year old Jack, who likes writing things down, her brother nine-year-old Birdie, who likes wearing glittery lipgloss, and the secrets that could ruin everything. "What is on your head?" I ask.
"This is my hijab."
"Why are you wearing it?"
"I thought it might help me become the perfect me today. Maybe I can use it to channel Aisha's strength. She wore a hijab."
He wraps the ratty yellow towel tighter around his head. I wait to hear the rest because I think I know where this is going.
"I can't hide it anymore, Jack. I'm not my perfect me."
Jack likes writing things down - especially facts. Facts like: we don't talk about Moose Day or why Mama's gone. Facts like: we have no home except Uncle Patrick's house, so don't blow it. Facts like: her little brother Birdie prefers to wear girl clothes instead of boy clothes, and that's best kept secret in their provincial little town.
But when Birdie's secret begins to slip out, all those facts get scrambled and the one thing Jack feels good at - protecting Birdie - begins to slip from her grasp.
A powerful story about how to be your perfect you - even when people try to squash you.