Cerulean Blues

October 15, 2011
Fallon peppers her substantial homage, in four seasonal sections, to the rare, nine-gram cerulean warbler with edifying research studies and statistics on this charismatic sprite of the treetops and its plight. The plot, so to speak, is driven by three trips to coal-crazed West Virginia, verdant Tennessee, and bird-abundant Colombia, respectively. As she chronicles those journeys, Fallon thoroughly explains key issues directly affecting the cerulean's endangerment, such as mountaintop-removal mining, which she scathingly critiques in an in-depth assessment of Appalachia coal mining. Occasionally, these side-trips turn into switchbacks as Fallon rehashes previously outlined points (there are only so many ways to convey the benefits of shade-grown coffee). Ultimately, Fallon illuminates the complexity of the cerulean's struggle and the interconnected challenges of nature conservation and species protection. A must for birding enthusiasts, environmentalists, and those with a reverence for life's small wonders, who ask with Fallon, If we start losing pieces of things, where will we stop?(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)