The Amazing Life Of Birds: The Twenty-Day Puberty Journal Of Duane Homer Leech (2006) - Plot & Excerpts
GARY PAULSEN CATEGORYDuane. I feel your pain. Sometimes I feel like I'm going to turn into a zit too. I'm sorry that it doesn't go away with puberty. We can be zit monsters together. The Amazing Life of Birds does exactly what the rest of the title depicts. It follows the 20 day puberty journal of Duane Homer Leech. This book was surprisingly engaging. While I've never had the experiences of a 12 year old boy going through puberty, I feel as though I have a much better idea of what that would be like after reading this book. Duane is just an awkward kid. His journal chronicles some disastrous events like putting band aids all over his face to cover up his zits (something I wish I could get away with), to dropping his lunch all over the cafeteria causing complete chaos (something I've sadly done before), to even knocking over all the shelves in the library, which I admit takes some real awkward chutzpah. What can I say, you got talent kid. While the story itself is a bit trite due to the melodramatic subject matter, Paulsen's writing style is engaging and his characters are truly relatable. I definitely recommend this book to anyone currently suffering through puberty (especially of the male persuasion) and to those who are curious about how boys experience puberty (not creepy at all).
Mildly funny book about a teenager with a very unfortunate name dealing with onset puberty. I feel like it's a book that adults can look back on and laugh, but I don't know that it will really speak to boys going through it. It's not like the book is about something else and that comes up. It's his journal of embarrassing moments, zits, falling all over himself in front of girls, commiserating with his best friend, clumsiness and basic mortification over his brain and body betraying him at every turn. The bird part of the title comes from him watching a nest outside his bedroom window in which a bird couple is taking care of their new baby bird. The baby bird is going through a similar awkward phase before it learns (clumsily & desperately) how to fly. Duane can identify, so it makes for a sweet part of the story. Again, though, I think it's more of a cringe-worthy nostalgia that might make this book funny for adults, but not sure about teens. Who knows, though, maybe it would be like an Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret kind of book for boys?
What do You think about The Amazing Life Of Birds: The Twenty-Day Puberty Journal Of Duane Homer Leech (2006)?
Genres/Categories: puberty, humorThe title says it all. This book is a hilarious journal about Duane's awful experiences when he first begins going through puberty. He begins to get pimples and think that girls aren't the most awful thing on earth. Luckily he has a friend he can confide in, even though he can't confide in his family about how awful his life is. This book is funny to people of all ages, but I found it to be especially hilarious because of the dramatic irony surrounding puberty. Duane thought he was alone in this awful disease while I knew he was just going through puberty.
—Rebecca
I absolutely loved this book! It was funny, but also real. The story follows a boy who is 12 years and one week old. He is just starting to go through puberty and it is somewhat of a nightmare for him (but he tells it in such a funny way!). He starts to worry about how he looks to girls. He has a cowlick in the back of his head, so he decides to cut it off because hair spray won't keep it down. Right as he is cutting, his older sister yells at him, startling him into cutting a small bald spot in the back of his head. The school nurse sees him and thinks he has ringworm, so everyone in school stays away. Then he trips on his shoelaces in the lunch line and spills his luch all over the pretty new girl at school. This book abounds with adventures like these. The protagonist, Duane, learns to cope with his new life and get through these daily struggles by talking to his best friend and by comparing himself to a growing baby bird that lives in a nest on his window sill.I would definitely recommend this book, and I would read it again for fun.
—Rachel
A minor work by a pretty major author. I was hoping for more from this--something to give to about-to-be-adolescent boys other than Then Again, Maybe I Won't. Instead, the aspects of puberty that this book focuses on are entirely pimples and poor coordination, with some glossed-over "I think about girls" sentences here and there. Note to authors: read Judy Blume. Understand how helpful she is for girls, in her frank handling of periods, physical development, and even masturbation, without sounding like a textbook. Now write something equivalent for boys. Please.
—Brandy
