The Ostrich and Other Lost Things

December 1, 2017
Olivia's older brother, Jacob, is autistic. As time passes, the impact of his condition intensifies, threatening to overwhelm her and her parents.Jacob's meltdowns, coming at stressful moments, are growing worse as he moves into his teens. Olivia's parents, driven by their desire to give him opportunities to grow, imprudently (and surprisingly) put him in situations that seem likely to end in failures. In one such, they encourage him to audition for a part in Peter Pan along with Olivia. Although Jacob gets through the audition and they both get parts in the play, he melts down onstage on opening night--as Olivia expected--and she fails to come to his rescue, leaving her wracked with guilt. Meanwhile, she's been spending most of her time trying to find a comfort toy, a plastic ostrich, that Jacob lost months before, convinced that without it he's much worse. She's helped by her new friend, Charlie, the blind son of the manager of a traveling zoo where Olivia has been helping out, who offers lots of soothing advice. Olivia is well-meaning, realistically trapped between her loving concern for Jacob and the constraints his behavior puts on her life. Her parents are just as ardently devoted but make unexpectedly hapless (surely plot-driven) choices for the sake of Olivia's growth. The principal characters in this Tulsa, Oklahoma-set tale appear to be white.A reasonably engaging coming-of-age tale that might especially appeal to children in Olivia's situation. (Fiction. 10-14)

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January 1, 2018

Gr 4 Up-Eleven-year-old Olivia has a gift for finding lost things, except for the plastic toy ostrich that she thinks has a soothing effect on her older brother Jacob who has autism. Over the course of a summer, Olivia sets out to find Jacob's ostrich while volunteering at the zoo, auditioning for a production of Peter Pan, figuring out why and how a live ostrich keeps appearing in her backyard, and trying to keep her family together. With the help of her new friend Charlie and through Peter Pan, Olivia discovers that maybe not everything lost was meant to be found. Hautala's narrative is steady and fairly consistent as she guides readers through Olivia's adventurous summer. The story closely follows Olivia's physical and emotional journeys, usually focusing on one problem or scene per chapter. Occasionally, readers catch a glimpse of Olivia's "Neverdos," marking the major turns of the plot and of Olivia's emotional storm. While readers may get a bit lost at times, they will quickly find their way back through Hautala's rhythmic style, simplistic language, and detailed descriptions. VERDICT As in her first book, Waiting for Unicorns, Hautala offers an emotionally adept story about love and understanding.-Margaret Kennelly, iSchool at Urbana-Champaign, IL

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2017
Grades 5-8 It's the summer of the ostrich for 11-year-old Olivia. When she and her older, autistic brother, Jacob, go to see the animals in a local, temporary zoo, Jacob has a meltdown when he sees the ostrich. Olivia remembers that Jacob's autism seemed to grow worse after he lost his favorite toy ostrich. Since finding lost objects is her secret talent, she resolves to find the missing toy and perhaps return Jacob to a time when his autism was more manageable. Later, Olivia is caught trespassing on the zoo property, and even worse, the ostrich starts appearing in her yard in the middle of the night. These events are offset by getting the lead role in a youth production of Peter Pan and befriending Charlie, the son of the woman in charge of the zoo. Still, even those bright spots are dimmed by disappointment and misunderstanding. The stresses of being a sibling of someone with autism are very real, and Hautala describes the constriction and frustration Olivia feels, artfully and authentically.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)