A young girl finds endangered birds at camp, and now she keeps it as a secret. Fitting in isn’t easy, especially when you are a bird nerd, but when Nina resigns herself to camp, she begins to discover friendship. Eventually, she ropes in her new friends, and together they embark on a mystery to figure out who the cranes are and will the egg hatch? Along the way, our character slowly hatches from her own shell, and she realizes that she is capable of finding her own flock. While the themes are beautiful in themselves, the story does drag with a lack of steady pacing. Overall, the characters are quirky and cute but the plot seems to lack a certain drive and charm.

At summer camp, Nina, an amateur bird-watcher, discovers a pair of whooping cranes nesting in the marsh—something that hasn't happened in Texas for over a century. With her fellow campers, the Odd balls, she investigates the mysterious birds, uncovering more than just wildlife as she seeks her own sense of belonging.

In addition to all things birds, we get a lot of Texas in this book: Buccees, summer camp, cranes, heat. This was a sweet story about self discovery, friendship and learning that it’s ok to be different. This is a story that will be enjoyed by all ages.

There was a little too much bird information for me personally, but I can see my nature-loving students really connecting with the story. Bird facts aside, I did enjoy the story and loved the connection to the characters from Song for a Whale.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Lynne Kelly is the best at writing the isolating loneliness of being a weird girl. "The Secret Language of Birds" was a great follow up to "Song For a Whale." It has such great and realistic characters and a wonderful message about how to stay true to yourself while you grow. I also love all the environmental messages in Kelly's stories. Even if this is a middle grade novel, it works for all ages and can help heal an adult's inner child. I can't wait to see what comes next from this author!

A neurodivergent tween finds friends and makes an amazing discovery at summer camp. (From Redeemed Reader review.)

It was wonderful going back into the world of SONG FOR A WHALE. I would give this to kids looking for books about friendships as well as the kids who are concerned about conservation.

A city girl whose parents don't understand her craving for Nature send her to summer camp, where she solves the mystery of the camp's alleged ghost and learns the currently recommended procedure for appreciating a rare bird. At school she tried to make friends with a deaf girl who transferred to a deaf school, and had been feeling rejected. At camp she makes other friends and also reconnects with the deaf girl, who even helps solve the mystery.

Recommended to all parents and all children, especially those who still live in child-friendly environments and will feel profound pity for the city kids in this book. Pity helps build empathy.

4.5 stars.

A beautiful story with a lot of information to teach young and adults both. I loved how our protagonist found her own friendships that supported her.

This book is a true gem! I love Lynne Kelly's writing style and was impatiently waiting for another read from her after Song for a Whale. The Secret Language of Birds was so heartfelt and beautiful and I can't wait to share it with my students!

I loved Song for a Whale and booktalked that all the time after I finished it. This was a great follow up novel. Not directly connected, but also helps in understanding more about animal connections and how humans can make things better for animals. I'm also a fan of having characters wrestling with anxiety as I find that is a prevalent thing amongst young people now and the more conversations we can open up about it, the better off we'll all be. Totally adding this to my classroom library.

loved this title - so much depth and facets to the characters. setting works well, though at first I thought it was kitschy. recommend for upper elem and tweens. i bought in hardcover

I absolutely adored Song for a Whale, so I was very excited for this one. Kelly's writing is so effortless and full of empathy. I loved following Nina and growing with her throughout the book. The summer camp setting was very fun, and I loved the camp moments! This was such an enjoyable read!

A great follow up to Song for a Whale, with a loose connection to the original MC, but in this book, a whole new set of characters. Middle grade readers who are animal entusiasts (especially bird enthusiasts) and strong readers will come away from this book with appreciation. I think it would work best as an audiobook for most middle grade readers as it is on the longer side.

Lynne Kelly, as always, writes beautifully about summer camp, friendships, and how young people can make a difference in the world.

I'm very late reviewing this, but I want to thank Random House and NetGalley for an ARC to read and review.

I loved meeting Iris in "A Song for a Whale" by Lynne Kelly, and was excited to hear that Lynne Kelly had another book coming out. I was even more excited when I saw the cover as the design is similar to "Song for a Whale."

The Secret Language of Birds is about Nina, a girl desperate to fit in, but who always seems to be . . . a little much. In fact, if you've read Song for a Whale, you may remember Nina as the girl with the over-the-top sign language. I enjoyed getting to know Nina and to learn about her love for birds. Nina heads off to camp in an effort to connect with her aunt, but finds a group of friends "the oddballs" along the way. Not only that, but she discovers a very rare bird in the marsh at camp. Ultimately this is a sweet story about being brave and finding a place of belonging.

While I didn't connect to Nina's story or the summer camp setting as well as I did Iris, I found this to be an enjoyable story and highly recommend it to anyone who loved "Song for a Whale."

2.5 stars

There were some great, suspenseful moments, but they were overshadowed by the confusing links between characters and the events in the story. There was a sub-plot that was meant to be a budding romance. It had zero impact on the story and the characters didn’t have any chemistry. That whole storyline should have been left out. I usually gripe about stories that are too predictable. However, this one was so all over the place it made it impossible to predict. Each “bombshell” made the story more confusing and harder to follow and more ridiculous.

I really wanted to like this one more. I absolutely loved Song for a Whale, but struggled to get into this story in the same way. I think the second half of the story moved better than the first half, but something about the characters rubbed me the wrong way

I loved this sweet story about friendship and family. I loved Nina's discovery that maybe she could find some friends that she fit in with and how she overcame her insecurities and doubts about herself, eventually letting in the new friends. Learning more about birds was so fun and I was engaged in learning what happened all the way through the book. I definitely recommend this book for middle grade lovers.

I loved this book!
Nina doesn’t feel like she really fits in anywhere. Not at school, nor with her large family, with whom she sometimes gets literally overlooked. Nina’s great passion is birdwatching, and her enthusiasm for it sometimes gets her in trouble with people who don’t understand when she gets excited. When Nina is offered a chance to spend the summer at her Aunt Audrey’s camp for girls, she jumps at it. Birdwatching to her heart’s content! Her experiences lead her to some wonderful surprises, and also to discoveries about herself and her place in the world…
A must-read for anyone who has ever felt like a “cuckoo chick in the wrong nest”, and wondered if they will ever really fit in, anywhere.

I thought I'd love it more than I did because it didn't spark a deep connection to nature because that didn't come until a third of the way through the book- maybe if the book had started off at camp and introducing Nina through the lens of being an odd one out at her Aunt's camp where she's there to spend a little time and discovers these birds rather than the awkward being left behind introduction I would have felt a stronger connection?

Either way, it's a summer camp story that veers into a girl connecting with animals as a way to create meaning in her life and make connections to others when she uncovers a nest in their Texas area of birds that hadn't been there in quite some time. The pace was slow, maybe to create the magical quality of it all, but to me, it just read slow.

This is a story about a girl who doesn't feel like she fits in anywhere and her fascination with birds. I still haven't read Song of a Whale, but I know enough about that book to catch the connection.

Nina is a typical middle child who often feels overlooked in her busy family. She loves birds and spends a lot of her time birdwatching. Her mother sends her to the summer camp that her aunt runs, Bee Holler, which is a very cute name for a camp. She feels left out because she's not really a camper but is there to stay with her aunt and help out. She falls in with a group of campers that call themselves the Oddballs, and one night, she makes an amazing discovery - whooping cranes nesting near the camp! Those birds will change everything for Nina.

I love a story about a camp, especially when we get to follow oddball characters. It's a story of friendship, learning how to be a good friend, and falling in love with nature and the outdoors.

If you are a bird enthusiast or a kid who often feels awkward or left out, then this is a book you will likely enjoy.