This is the second book by Susie Finkbeiner set in the Vietnam War era that I have read. Both were excellent, deserving of more than five stars. The Nature of Small Birds is about three generation of a close knit family, focusing on the impact adopting a preschooler who arrived in America from Vietnam via Operation Baby Lift had on each of them. As with most family relationships there was a mixture of pleasure and pain, but most of all there was love and acceptance. For one family member in particular the acceptance was a long time in coming as it entailed allowing the grief over losing a son to the war to settle. Emotions are intense and run deep in this novel. Readers will find their lives touched by Minh and her family. Finkbeiner is a master of utilizing the time-slip genre to enhance the tale.

I give this book my highest recommendation, and am grateful to have received a complimentary copy from Revell via Library Thing without obligation. All opinions expressed her are my own. ( )

This book is published by Revell. On their website they have this to say about their company "Revell began over 125 years ago when D. L. Moody and his brother-in-law Fleming H. Revell saw the need for practical books that would help bring the Christian faith to everyday life." Obviously to last for 125 years in the publishing business, this company fills some need so far be it for me to criticize. I was raised in a Christian home and went to Sunday school and church regularly until I moved away from home. However, the difference I witnessed between the principles Christians espoused and how they led their lives drove me away from organized religion. I have to say, though, that the characters in this book seem to mostly adhere to Christ's teachings.

There are three timelines to this book: 1975, 1988 and 2013. Bruce, a father of three girls and a grandfather to two girls, narrates the 2013 sections. Linda, his wife, narrates the 1975 sections. Sonny, their oldest daughter, is the narrator of the 1988 sections at which time she was 18 and a high school graduate. Their remembrances all centre around Mindy, the middle daughter, who was adopted at about the age of 4 from Vietnam in 1975. She was one of thousands of young Vietnamese children brought to the United States after the end of the Vietnam War in a scheme called Project Babylift. As an adult in 2013, newly separated from her husband and back living with her parents, she starts to explore what she can find out about her birth family. This is what causes her mother and her sister to remember the past and her father to chronicle how she makes her way through the process. It's an interesting way to structure a book and differentiates it from other books of adopted children which are usually told from their point of view.

This book was an okay read but I felt it glossed over some of the issues with the Vietnam War. Yes, a couple of the minor characters were upset when Bruce and Linda adopted Mindy because the lives lost and people injured in the war were still fresh in their memories. However, they soon dropped their opposition and accepted Mindy which I felt was somewhat unrealistic. ( )

Mindy loves her adoptive family - but she has always wanted to know more about her past. When she approaches her family and tells them of her desire to travel back to Vietnam to find her family it sends emotional ripples throughout the family. While each remembers the roads they travelled leading to Mindy's adoption, they all come to realize that sometimes one must find their own way while spreading their wings to fly. ( )

I remember the Vietnam War era. I remember the protesters on my college campus. I also know now (from news reports) all the things that were not known then; the poor reasons for staying in it so long, the lack of compassion from our leaders. Susie Finkbeiner is very good at showing the many sides Americans took during this period with neither judgment nor bias. She focused on one family who adopted a child who left Vietnam through Operation Babylift. This was a terrible and tragic time for all involved. However, Susie has shown how God cares for each of us no matter who we are or from where we come. He raises up His people to help the wounded and suffering. He brings hope and healing to the distressed. No matter what, we can trust our God. ( )

A family story that is told through a few different characters and jumps back and forth around three time frames. The story involves a child adopted by a family and is told through the perspectives of the parents and sister. While the Book was enjoyable, the intention seemed to be about the adopted girl, Minh or Mindy, but there was a lack of true connection to her character. It ended up being more about the the others in the family with Mindy appearing in the outskirts, which may have been intentional on the author's part. I liked the premise of the Operation Baby lift program for the story line, but I wanted a little more emotional investment into the characters. ( )