The TeachingBooks Blog
As we worked to complete the project, we always had in our minds the many students we’ve met — students who have moved us and changed us with their strength and vulnerability.
Tackling what frightens us and discovering things are not as scary as they seemed is one thing; finding out that our worst-case scenario is indeed at hand is another. That is when courage asks something deeper of us.
The inspiration I felt leaning back on the brilliance of the original book, even as I forged new, unexpected writing paths forward, afforded a world of creative possibility and play that enchanted me as I wrote the book.
In book terms, we were all partners in the best senses of the word. And the book was made better because of that.
Birdsong is a celebration of relationships, an intergenerational friendship between two neighbors, an older artist named Agnes, and a young girl, Katherena, told from the child’s point of view. Agnes sees Katherena as an equal, and I hope readers will be able to find themselves in this book. 
She discovered Jo March and said meeting Jo awakened something within her that she didn't know she had. She began to believe in herself, and her new vision and sense of agency began to lead her dreams. 
