HUMMINGBIRD SEASON

A California boy chronicles the long, difficult Covid-19 lockdown in verses that explore his confused emotions.

On the day “that started everything” and that “was also a day that ended everything,” Archie’s life is turned upside down. School is abruptly closed, his parents must work from home, and big brother Hank is ever more difficult. Archie’s asthma puts him at risk, causing his parents to take ever-greater precautions. All this, plus attending “(not real) school at home,” makes him feel more and more isolated, unseen, and muted. He has outbursts of anger and despair: “…even though we’re together / stuck inside the house / we’re not really together-together.” Archie’s imagination is captured when he hears a brief buzzing sound, senses something whipping past, and witnesses “the smallest bird ever,” and he soon finds a new purpose. With help from his family, he carefully provides nectar for his “hummingbird restaurant” and becomes especially attached to Ruby, a hummingbird with red patches, as he watches for and worries about her, especially when a wildfire rages. Some poems are lists or consist of a few lines; others flow breathlessly, offering detailed accounts of events, beautiful descriptions, or information about hummingbirds. Archie often repeats important words, phrases, or concepts in a rhythmic way that emphasizes his escalating emotions. He’s intensely loving, deeply compassionate, insightful, inventive, and expressive. Readers will gasp in wonder and empathy, cry and sometimes laugh, cheer at the upbeat conclusion, and feel every emotion that’s so powerfully expressed.

Brilliant.