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 an...
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Feb 20, 2009
Ronda
rated it: 
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
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Jan 27, 2010
Ryan
rated it: 
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 boge More...
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 boge More...
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Jan 12, 2010
Becky
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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
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Aug 23, 2010
Tom
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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 prefere More...
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 prefere More...
Feb 06, 2012
Drena
rated it: 
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 tog More...
The same thing about them is that they both have hair on there body,they both live tog More...
Jul 05, 2009
Taejas
rated it:
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 More...
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 More...
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Jan 10, 2011
Kristine
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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 More...
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 More...
Dec 29, 2008
Sandy
rated it:
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
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Sep 04, 2011
Amanda
rated it:
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 and innovative books I have read. The author created an entirely unique and amazing world, one More...
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 and innovative books I have read. The author created an entirely unique and amazing world, one More...
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Jan 07, 2009
Sarah
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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
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Feb 24, 2010
Sarai
rated it:
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 Kit More...
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 Kit More...
Feb 16, 2009
Crystal
rated it:
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:
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! Lat More...
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! Lat More...
May 16, 2009
Jennifer
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Apr 03, 2009
Becky
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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
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Jan 25, 2011
Yu Tong
rated it:
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
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Sep 27, 2011
Emma
rated it: 
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 whe More...
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 whe More...
Jun 07, 2010
Audry
rated it:
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
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Mar 23, 2009
Haley
rated it:
May Bird lives alone with her mother and her cat, Somber Kitty, on the edge of a wooded swamp in West Virginia. She loves to draw and make believe, and desperately wants to fit in at school but can't seem to figure out how. Most people aren't very comfortable in the woods, but Briery Swamp fits May Bird like a mitten. There, she is safe from school and the taunts and teasing of kids who don't understand her. Hidden in the trees, May is a warrior princess, and her cat is her brave guardian. Unti
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Mar 08, 2008
Jackie
rated it:
May Bird, 10 years old, lives with her mom in Briery Swamp, Virginia in White Moss Manor. Not many people live in the town, as people mysteriouly began disappearing near a hidden lake. May is small, skinny, and timid and has no friends. But, she has a constant companion, Somber Kitty, a mangey, nearly hairless cat. May's mom is always worried about her and fears she will come to some harm. The hidden lake in the woods draws her near, especially after she receives a mysterious letter from The Lad
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Oct 23, 2007
Medford Children's Library
rated it:
May Bird doesn't have too many friends in Briery Swamp, a town shrouded in mystery after the unexplained disappearance of the community. She doesn't mind too much though as long as she has her trusty cat, Somber Kitty. With her mom threatening to take her to a prep school in New York, May Bird runs away to answer a letter she found addressed to her at the abandoned post office. Her answers take her to the Ever After, a land full of ghosts, ghouls and the dreaded Bogeyman. The Ever After is not t
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Sep 19, 2011
Veronica
rated it:
May Bird and the Ever After was a fun, adventure, thrilling book that kept me wanting more. Jodi Lynn Anderson made this book a good read for those who are into ghosts, goblins, and hairless cats. The book has a fantastic plot and storyline that you can follow and not be that confused ( during the book the chapters switch off from May to her cat Somber Kitty to view the story from their points of view). In the end, this book isw great for all ages to see that in the afterlife there is still adve
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Apr 28, 2011
Roseanne
rated it:
I read all of the books in the series because my kids wanted to read them. I usually like to read what my kids read. At first, I thought they were pretty harmless, and I started to read them aloud to my kids, but then I had nightmares. Some of the scenes were too close to ones I'd seen in the Sixth Sense (a movie I won't let my kids watch). Although I really like Jodi Anderson's writing style and I enjoyed the story, I quit reading the series to my kids and can't recommend it.
Apr 26, 2009
Amanda
rated it:
It took me a long time to finish this but I really liked it. I was stuck at the beehive house for a really long time but one day I just decided to finish it. I was actually surprised by how much I really liked it. I feel a lot like May Bird. I don't think I've ever related that much to a character before. Main characters usually aren't my favorite. I also really like Pumpkin. I think it's too bad that spirits never change. I never liked John the Jibber. I could tell something was up onc
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Aug 17, 2010
Jen
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Summary
The first in a series, this book begins the tale of May Bird, a social outcast who lives in a deserted town with a mysterious past along with her faithful cat companion, Somber Kitty. After she is lured into a hidden lake, May Bird awakens in the world of the afterlife, where she encounters strange new friends and finds that being alive in the land of the dead brings her some terrifying enemies.
Review
This is a strange, but delightful book. May Bird's feelings of i More...
The first in a series, this book begins the tale of May Bird, a social outcast who lives in a deserted town with a mysterious past along with her faithful cat companion, Somber Kitty. After she is lured into a hidden lake, May Bird awakens in the world of the afterlife, where she encounters strange new friends and finds that being alive in the land of the dead brings her some terrifying enemies.
Review
This is a strange, but delightful book. May Bird's feelings of i More...
Jul 16, 2010
Melissa
rated it:
My daughter is not a reader. I bought her this book though (as with many others) in hopes that something will set off a spark and have her wanting to read. For some reason (I'm sure it was the wonderful artwork on the cover) she was attracted to this one. Once her nose was in the book, you almost never saw it leave. She absolutely loved it. So much so that I decided I needed to read it too. I adored the book. Jodi Lynn Anderson does such a good job at spinning a wonderful tale of the Ever After.
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Sep 08, 2009
Emily
rated it:
I read this together with my almost 9 year old girl and we both really enjoyed it. Parts were fairly scary and last year I don't think she would have been ready to hear it. I found the story engaging, very sweet at times and fast paced enough to keep both of our interests. We read this without realizing it was the first of three books and immediately ordered the next two when we finished the first.
