num_pages: 208
description: Entwining a tale of missing children with the story of a lonely little boy, Sonya Hartnett captures the tenderness and dread of childhood in a work of exceptional storytelling.The year is 1977, and Adrian is nine. He lives with his gran and his uncle Rory. His best friend is Clinton Tull. Adrian loves to draw, and he wants a dog. He’s afraid of quicksand, shopping centers, and self-combustion. But as closely as he watches his suburban world, there is much he cannot understand. He does not, for instance, know why three neighborhood children might set out to buy ice cream one summer’s day and never be seen again. . . .In this suburb that is no longer safe and innocent, in a broken family of self-absorbed souls, Sonya Hartnett sets the story of a lone little boy - unwanted, unloved, and intensely curious - a story as achingly beautiful as it is shattering. As her quiet tale ominously unfolds, we are reminded of how fragile are the threads that hold us secure - and how brave, how precious, is the heart of each child who soldiers on.
language: English
title: What the Birds See
titlecomplete: What the Birds See
genres: Audiobook, Literature, Young Adult, Classics, School, Book Club, Australia, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Contemporary
ratings_count: 1254
awards: awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Orange Prize
category: Fiction Longlist, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Miles Franklin Literary Award, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: The Age Book of the Year, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Commonwealth Writers' Prize
category: Best Book in South East Asia and Pacific
publisher: Candlewick Press