May Bird and the Ever After (May Bird, #1)

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May Bird and the Ever After (May Bird #1)

by Jodi Lynn Anderson (Goodreads Author)

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 · rating details · 2,962 ratings · 338 reviews

Most people aren't very comfortable in the woods, but the woods of Briery Swamp fit May Bird like a fuzzy mitten. There, she is safe from school and the taunts and teases of kids who don't understand her. Hidden in the trees, May is a warrior princess, and her cat, Somber Kitty, is her brave guardian.

Then May falls into the lake.

When she crawls out, May finds herself i

...more

Paperback, 352 pages

Published May 23rd 2006 by Aladdin (first published August 30th 2005)

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Best Kick-Ass Female Characters From YA and Children's Fantasy and Science Fiction

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May Bird and the Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson

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May 20, 2012 Amanda rated it 5 of 5 stars

May Bird and the Ever After, the first book in the Ever After trilogy, tells the tale of a 10-year-old girl named May, her kitty named Somber Cat and the horrifying adventures they have in Ever After, the world of the dead.

This was a truly fantastic tale of adventure and friendship. I've read many children's books and May Bird and the Ever After is most definitely one of the most imaginative books I have read. The author created an entirely unique and amazing world, one that was both fascinatin...more

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Apr 13, 2009 Mckenna rated it 4 of 5 stars

A young outsider, May Bird is dragged into the underworld- no place for mortals, but with the help of her hairless cat, somber kitty, and an unexpected friend, can she get back home?

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Feb 20, 2009 Ronda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: kids_and_ya, fantasy_and_sci-fi

Meet 10-year-old May Bird, who lives with her mother and a hairless rex cat named Somber Kitty at the edge of a woods in a place called Briery Swamp. She spends much of her time with her cat in the woods, dreaming of being a warrior princess or in her room drawing pictures of strange creatures. She's not like the other kids in her class, who think she's just plain weird. May Bird's mother, concerned and coming to her wits' end with May's "strange" behavior, is talking about sending her away to a...more Meet 10-year-old May Bird, who lives with her mother and a hairless rex cat named Somber Kitty at the edge of a woods in a place called Briery Swamp. She spends much of her time with her cat in the woods, dreaming of being a warrior princess or in her room drawing pictures of strange creatures. She's not like the other kids in her class, who think she's just plain weird. May Bird's mother, concerned and coming to her wits' end with May's "strange" behavior, is talking about sending her away to a boarding school in New York. Even though May Bird has reason to be scared now that she's started seeing ghosts in the woods and in her home, she's more scared of leaving her beloved West Virginia woods. Things become stranger still when, in the ruins of an old post office, she finds a mysterious letter, postmarked from 50 years ago, but addressed to May Bird at her address. The letter leads her into a world that is even further away than New York where being different--being "a live one", might just be deadly for her--a world where the Bogeyman is real; where ghosts are afraid of "people like her." It is a complex story with many layers, some humorous (ghosts of thieves playing practical jokes on one another) and some frightening (ghosts having their souls sucked into nothingness by the evil Bo Cleevil). In this strange and frightening world, May learns that, just maybe, she isn't as alone as she thought she was, and she just might find that she's more of a warrior princess than she ever dreamt.

Some sources list this story as being at a reading level of Ages 9 and up, others at Grades 5 and up. Because of the complexity and possible fright factor for some, I would tend to agree with the latter. That said, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next as May Bird ventures through the land of the dead in an attempt to find answers, to find her way home, and to find herself. The series includes:

* May Bird and the Ever After (Book 1)

* May Bird Among the Stars (Book 2)

* May Bird: Warrior Princess (Book 3) (less)

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Jan 16, 2013 Anna Moseley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: more-books-should-be-like-this

This book is fantastic! I could relate to May wonderfully. I have a morbid streak and have grown up in the woods all my life. Like May I've had my ups and downs when it comes to fitting in. I think a lot of people can relate to that, especially those who are apart of the book's target age group.

Ok, so it has ghosts and trees and a relatable heroine. So far so good. What else made me love this book? The writing style hands down. The writing style was really on par with the target audience. I nev...more This book is fantastic! I could relate to May wonderfully. I have a morbid streak and have grown up in the woods all my life. Like May I've had my ups and downs when it comes to fitting in. I think a lot of people can relate to that, especially those who are apart of the book's target age group.

Ok, so it has ghosts and trees and a relatable heroine. So far so good. What else made me love this book? The writing style hands down. The writing style was really on par with the target audience. I never felt like I was being read/written down to. The style was matter of fact and never tried to make the story something it wasn't.

The cast was lovely. I loved May because she had actual feelings. She was very human and that made her relatable. What she felt and thought were very honest and realistic. Heck, let's be honest who hasn't run around when they were a kid pretending to be the next Xena or the like? Yet, she's also very lonely. At times she's ok with it, and at times she isn't. With her she has Somber Kitty who turns out to have his own adventure and although he doesn't talk, he really does have a lovely personality.

Even though the two get separated early on and have their own trials, they never loose hope. They keep on trying and creating new plans to get them where they need and want to go. May has to learn how to get along with people and how to appreciate the time she has by herself. She has to learn how to pull through something that is much, much bigger than her.
Somber Kitty on the other hand has to learn how to be alone and that he really does need people. Most importantly, that it's ok to ask for help.

The great thing is is that none of these lessons are shoved in the reader's face. They'll figure it out on their own while reading or after reading.

As for the villains. Oooh wow! What I loved is that the main one is never really described, and yet its people's reactions to him that make the reader know he's scary. There's other monsters and bad guys that make an appearance and while they are frightening look wise, it's the personality that really makes them fearsome. In my opinion, that's how it should be done.

All in all, I think this is a fun, fantastic read! I feel like this book is underrated and doesn't get the attention it deserves. It has wonderful elements and just the right amount of each. It's down to earth yet completely fantastical. I came away from this book felling like I had made a new best friend. I've now made it a tradition to read this book every October. It's quite worth it! (less)

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Jan 27, 2010 Ryan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Two stars looks like an awfully disappointed assessment, but take the rating for what it represents: "It was OK."

After an Alice in Wonderland-ish tumble through a watery portal, May Bird finds herself in the Ever After, a macabre world populated by ghosts and specters (the former never lived, the latter did, or maybe vice-versa). While trying to discover a way home to her mother, May learns that the ghost world is suffering under the tyrannical fist of a particularly bad bogey whose edicts and m...more

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Jan 12, 2010 Becky rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-fantasy

t took me awhile to get into the book. The beginning was fairly predictable; May is awkward and isolated, creepy things happen, she falls into the Ever After. What keeps the setup from being too generic, given the popularity of kid-in-magical-world books, is that after May starts seeing ghosts, it’s really creepy. Even Pumpkin, the kind of dumb but well meaning house ghost who befriends her, is scary when he’s first introduced, and he’s got nothing on the ghost who she’s forced to share a shower...more t took me awhile to get into the book. The beginning was fairly predictable; May is awkward and isolated, creepy things happen, she falls into the Ever After. What keeps the setup from being too generic, given the popularity of kid-in-magical-world books, is that after May starts seeing ghosts, it’s really creepy. Even Pumpkin, the kind of dumb but well meaning house ghost who befriends her, is scary when he’s first introduced, and he’s got nothing on the ghost who she’s forced to share a shower with, or the one she sees hanging by her neck from the rafters. May Bird may be a kids book, but it’s got a very real amount of darkness to it; I think, had I been reading it as a kid, I’d have been terrified.

The story overall picks up when May gets into the Ever After, though I still had a few frustrations with it. All of the exposition and explanation that’s given is dropped in very abruptly and quickly; I wanted to read without slowing down, because the writing was compelling, but I found it was too much of an exposition dump to process and spent the rest of the book flipping back to try and remember which kind of creepy creature was which, and where the different place were. (…Until I discovered the map at the beginning I’d somehow missed. D’oh.)

My other frustration, I think, stemmed from the Ever After itself. May is thrust into a confusing, alien world, but it feels like there are no real rules governing it, as though the world building was done spur of the moment rather than planned. A few important specifics are outlined (specters used to be alive, ghosts never were) and a general impression of the Ever After is given, but strange things keep happening and since May doesn’t understand why, neither does the reader. But the problem fades away as May gets acclimated—not totally, but when she leaves the city for a trek in a vast expanse of wasteland, there are fewer incidents to cause confusion and the world feels more solid. By the time she got to her next destination, the book has picked up and the focus shifted to her story, not the world.

With all that said, the book was an enjoyable read. It avoided another of the big kid-in-magic-world clichés because, while clearly special for reasons we don’t understand yet, May hasn’t developed any super-special powers. May herself is the second-best thing about the book; though the various sidekicks and companions who show up are all interesting, May is the only one who’s relatable. She wants to make friends and be normal, but doesn’t really get how to be normal; she’s sure that somewhere deep inside, she’s a brave warrior, but she hasn’t figured out where that warrior is lurking yet. She doesn’t read like a ten-year-old for most of it, but she carries the novel regardless.

The best thing in the book, though, is Somber Kitty. He has his own subplot, and is full of personality—despite the fact that he doesn’t speak, what with being a cat and all. His journey is nearly as compelling as May’s.

Full review: http://www.active-voice.net/2007/04/0...(less)

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Feb 21, 2013 Katharine rated it 5 of 5 stars

I can't remember when I first got this series- it was definitely at a school book fair, probably in elementary school, maybe seventh grade. Nevertheless, it remains one of my favorite book series, and I reread it once again.

I love May probably because I feel I can relate to her so much, because she is exactly like me, especially when I was little. if anyone was curious about my autobiography, go read this and pay attention to how May is described. I even had the short hair until middle school.

Th...more

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Aug 23, 2010 Tom Franklin rated it 3 of 5 stars

May Bird is a misfit girl in a small West Virginia town. When she stumbles into another world, the Ever After, she is (unknowingly) followed by her cat, Somber Kitty. The two have parallel adventures, navigating their way through Ever After, as May tries to find a way out of the land of the dead and back to the land of the living.

I liked the book, but I wasn't crazy about it. For me, there wasn't anything all that stand-out-ish about it (other than Somber Kitty). Personal preferences, I suppose....more

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Feb 06, 2012 Drena C rated it 5 of 5 stars

In this book I thought that it was really good, and it had a lot of details. It first stared out with Ally, and her cat. They where really close friends with each other. Until one day they woke up and they were in a forest surrounded by ugly animals looking at them like crazy. But everyone thought that they looked alike in may ways and some said that they looked different from each other.

The same thing about them is that they both have hair on there body,they both live together in the same hou...more

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Jul 05, 2009 Taejas Kudva rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: kids, girls especially, into fantasy adventure

Recommended to Taejas by: Madison Parks

Shelves: kids-books

The second Pirates of the Caribbean movie annoyed the heck out of me because it and the third should have just been one movie. Well, and I didn't realize it was going to be a cliffhanger ending.

The first May Bird bok falls into the same category. Now, it didn't leave me with a tremendous headache like the second Pirates movie did, but the book didn't finish so much as it ended. It seemed like the end of a chapter, not the end of a story, and it is very possible to have great episodic books where...more The second Pirates of the Caribbean movie annoyed the heck out of me because it and the third should have just been one movie. Well, and I didn't realize it was going to be a cliffhanger ending.

The first May Bird bok falls into the same category. Now, it didn't leave me with a tremendous headache like the second Pirates movie did, but the book didn't finish so much as it ended. It seemed like the end of a chapter, not the end of a story, and it is very possible to have great episodic books where the story arc keeps going but the plot of that book comes to a close: check out Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series fot a great example.

I also felt like the book really changed tones when part II began after May arrived in the Ever After. The beginning sets up so many great conflicts, and all of them are abandoned. I suppose the beginning of the book was heading in a more light hearted, pun filled, Pictures of Hollis Woods sort of direction, and swapped it suddenly for The Nightmare Before Christmas. It wasn't that you didn't see it coming, given the cover and the prologue, but it seems sort of a lost opportunity.

What May Bird is is pleasantly imaginative and filled with great twists of phrase or jokes that aren't explained but left there like little humor landmines. The Ever After is an interesting, carefully non-partisan after life filled with all sorts of Tim Burton dangers for a Live One to run in to. Anderson is good about providing Pixar type jokes that work on both a kid's and a (childish) adult's level. For instance May finds a book called, What to Expect When You're Expecting to be Executed... come on, comedy gold!

The series is going to be that typical kids' formula: child with low self esteem goes into the magical world, finds their backbone, and comes back flush with triumph able to face the challenges of real life. But there's a reason this formula is still around. It works, and it's fun. It's a solid adventure book with a female protagonist that leaves room to grow as the series progresses, and pleasantly shows that you can have an adventure that isn't rooted solely in action.(less)

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Jan 10, 2011 Kristine Lopez rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

OKAY! so it took me almost a week, or was it already a week, to finish this book...don't get it wrong. The book isn't the problem... IT'S THE SCHOOL WORKS!!!

SO... about the story... It's about a ten-year-old girl who doesn't have any confidence in herself especially if she is surrounded by people. She is more confident if she's alone. Then she read a letter saying: blah blah blah. risk your life . save me . i'm more powerful than you are, I need HELP
That isn't really what it said but that's wha...more

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Dec 29, 2008 Sandy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Sandy by: Patron

Shelves: juvenile-fiction, supernatural

After getting a request for this book from a kid who has proven to have excellent taste (she's a regular at the library, and we've done a lot of book talking!), I finally picked up May Bird and the Ever After by Jodi Lynn Anderson. I was kind of impressed with the book. May is a friendless 10-year-old girl who has a vivid imagination...and the threat of being sent to boarding school looming over her shoulder. One day while walking in the woods near her home, she falls into a lake and is sucked i...more

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Jan 07, 2009 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

When I was a kid, I wasn’t into series of books. I don’t know if there just weren’t as many published, if I skipped over the Young Adult section, or if my reading interests just led me elsewhere. My niece Rebecca, who has recently garnered an email address, has long been one of the young people in my life whose reading I watch and follow. A few weeks ago in an email where I asked about her babysitting availability, I also asked - as I do at every opportunity - what she was reading. Then I reserv...more

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Feb 24, 2010 Sarai rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-chapter-books, young-adult-fiction, fantasy

May Bird falls into the Ever After with Pumpkin (and her cat Somber Kitty, though she thinks he has gone back home) and must travel among spectres and spirits who are terrified of the living in order to find her way back home, and maybe help a few dead people along the way.

Amazon has reviews that list this book for Grades 5-8, Grades 4-7, and ages 9-12. It is the first in a series, and for the most part I found it interesting. I was distracted by the fact that May Bird and Somber Kitty were sepa...more

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Feb 16, 2009 Crystal rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was excited to find a book that I was able to enjoy with my daughter. We read a couple chapters every night and quickly went on to finish "May Bird Among the Stars". Can't wait for the last one to be in paperback.

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Oct 30, 2010 Audrey rated it 4 of 5 stars

I liked it but it was a little bit creepy in the middle of the book. I couldn't sleep all night, and when I did sleep I got nightmares!

It is a good book about a girl named May who finds a letter addressed to her but is yellowed with age. Inside she finds a note saying The Lady Of The North Farm needs her help. She also finds a map of the forest by her house. When she goes to the lake she is grabbed by something she couldn't see! She gets out and goes home and starts to see ghosts! Later she goe...more

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Feb 05, 2013 Ryan Zimmerman Carstairs rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 15, 2008 Kat96 rated it 5 of 5 stars

OMG!!! This is such a wonderful book. The whole series is good!

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Feb 12, 2013 Miss Ami E. Bowen rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was just thinking about this series. I read it, oh, about four or five years ago from the library. On the 'Date Finished' thing I'm just guessing as to the actual day and month and really, even the year. But, I know it was somewhere around that time period; either 2006 or 2007. I remember that it was among the new releases from the library and that I had to wait a bit for the others in the series. I remember the very last one, the ending, made me cry. It's similar to Neal Shusterman's "Skinjac...more

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May 16, 2009 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-and-young-adult-books

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 06, 2013 Kylie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s, young-adult, favorites

Simply divine.

Refreshingly witty and a definite page turner. May Bird provides all that I love most in children's fiction: A strong female character, plenty of wit- and cats! In this first novel of the series we follow a young, misunderstood girl who gets pulled into the underworld. She must use all of her courage and strength to find a way out before the evil spirits chasing her succeed in trapping her in the underworld forever. With the help of some unexpected friends- and her loyal cat, May t...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Sofia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Jodi Lynn Anderson gives, the afterlife, a different view. Most picture the Grim Reaper, and the river Styx, but this book gives, us the neighborly side of the Ever After, and the strict underworld 'government'. I love her idea of a little girl getting lost in this world by chance, and then taking an adventure she was never planning on. this book is so much like what I wish life was really like, full of heroes ready to defend themselves, and the ones they love. This book was really well done. Th...more

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Jun 24, 2012 Ellen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: i-own

3.5. It was cute. :) Wait- am I allowed to call creepy books cute? It was spooky, but in a good way. Really fun. (Plus, the main character's name is May ELLEN Bird. Enough said. XD)

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May 20, 2013 Linnea Weishaar rated it 4 of 5 stars

May Bird lives in Briery Swamp, West Virginia, with her cat Somber Kitty. Jodi Lynn Anderson does a very good job writing her story's. This book is full of adventure and excitement. When May falls into the Ever After, her life becomes very difficult because her kind, a Live One, is not allowed there, in the world of the dead. Once you go in the Ever After, you can't come back out, or at least, nobody's ever made it out alive before. But May is determined to get out, back to her mom and her cat b...more

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Apr 03, 2009 Becky rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-alouds

I read this for 5th grade Battle of the Books and wrote 25 questions for it. Considering that I don't really like high fantasy (which most of this is other than a brief introduction to May Bird before she tumbles into The Ever After), I must say I was intrigued with this book. It was certainly original and fast-paced with marvelously described characters both living and dead...not to mention Somber Kitty! I can see why my 5th grade girls like it (I'll try to get them to read Theodosia and the Se...more

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Jan 25, 2011 Yu Tong Mei rated it 2 of 5 stars

I read this book called “May Bird”. My opinion of the book is I find out this book is not so interesting to me. I think the beginning of the story is little suspicious and I like it. But as the story goes on, I feel like it’s a little boring. I like the part where May Bird ventured into an unknown world. I am very wondering what will happen next. But when I read it, I found out there’s no surprise. So, I feel like it is kind of boring. I feel connected with the characters in the beginning becau...more

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Sep 27, 2011 Emma rated it 1 of 5 stars

It's very rare that I give up on a book part way through, really, it is. I figured I don't want to start a book where it is a series of three and i'm not even slightly enjoying it. So I guess this review/synopsis(ish) is kinda pointless, but whatev.

I didn't think it was well written at all, the best thing about it was her camraderie with the cat and her and the cat get split up about 90 pages in. Another goods thing was that it was genuinely quite scary, but it's fright wasted when you want the...more

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Jun 07, 2010 Audry rated it 2 of 5 stars

May Bird is a young girl who goes into the woods and escapes being caught by the monster in the lake, and goes through a portal into the Ever After, where ghosts, gouls, and the like live in the afterworld. It is run by the evil bogey man who is a lackey for the boss, who is taking over the whole Ever After. May has received an old letter addressed to her from before she was born, and is on her way to help the Lady of the North. May has many adventures and ends up on a train going to towards the...more

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Oct 16, 2007 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Somber Kitty. The best name ever for a cat. Even if he is hairless.

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Jan 19, 2013 Angela rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

May Bird is peculiar and is therefore shunned by her classmates. It doesn’t help that she lives in a mysterious and lonely house with a weird looking and somber kitty. But now she’s seeing ghosts in her house and receiving mail from the past. These things lead her to a lake she didn’t know existed, and which turns out to be a portal to the Ever After.
• No language or sexual issues
• Appropriate for younger audiences (5th grade or so), but also enjoyable for teens.
• The Ever After is the afterlife...more

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About Jodi Lynn Anderson

I write books about vaguely magical peach orchards, resorts in the afterlife, enigmatic island princesses beloved by Tinkerbell, and...civics! I was an awkward and strange child who kept lots of secrets. Now I live with a sweet Basenji dog named Peanut who loves to eat shoes, and a sweet husband who is good at all the things I'm bad at, like being organized and thinking things through. I've loved...more

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Quotes from May Bird and the Ever ...

“Dear Miss Bird,
The Lady of North Farm had asked us to send you this map to Briery Swamp Lake, just in case. She thought you might be having trouble finding it on your own, and she is expecting you to be prompt. We are very sorry for the danger you will endure, but we eagerly await your arrival should you survive it, as we are in great need of your help. The Lady joins me in sending you good luck and best wishes.
Sincerely,
Ms. H. Kari Kagaki
T. E. A. Travel” — 5 people liked it

“But I don't want to lose my guts answered Pumpkin ” — 4 people liked it

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