Lucy Gray Baird - The female tribute from District 12 for the tenth Hunger Games. Lucy Gray is a member of the Covey, a nomadic musical group forced to settle in District 12 after the war. She wears a beautiful rainbow dress to her reaping and draws the Capitol's attention with her charm, talent and by slipping a snake down the District 12 mayor's daughter's dress. She is a smart and calculating free spirit, and eventually develops a romantic connection with Snow. Her fate at the end of the book is unknown, though she is presumed to have died by the beginning of the original series. According to a BBC Radio 2 jury, Eva Cassidy was possessed of one of the best singing voices of all time. Another poll put Over the Rainbow on the list of the most memorable songs ever written. Eva Cassidy’s version received more votes than did Judy Garland’s. Songbird, an Eva Cassidy compilation, reached the number one spot on the British sales chart after hovering around the No. 80 position for almost two years. Not bad for a singer who in her lifetime hardly ever performed outside Washington D.C. or Maryland, except for a couple of weeks at the Blues Bar in Reykjavik, Iceland, 1994.

The characters such as Nisha - the missing lady, Yiannis - lover of Nisha and Petra - employer of Nisha, along with others did make the book very interesting to read about. The mystery aspect of the book was definitely worth reading but the unnecessary description of the surrounding made it a little bit boring and not to the point. I loved this tender, moving story about the powerful chord that binds mothers to daughters, about those we fail to seeand protect.The humanity in Songbirds is compelling, tinged with sadness, delicately delivered with urgency. I finished this book and could not stopthinking about Nisha. It is stunning and beautiful, a magnificent achievement.” —AbiDaré, author of The Girl with the Louding Voice Much like with The Beekeeper, Christy Lefteri shines a light on some important issues. The primary focus is how domestic worker are treated in some places, with very long days, little time off, and living far away from their families because it’s the only way to support them. Also important is that when multiple workers went missing, the police did not wish to investigate, seeing the women as less than. There’s a tie-in between this storyline and actual missing people, and the author’s note is not to be missed. Also of importance to the storyline are the gorgeous songbirds who are poached and consumed as a delicacy. All of the wildlife is depicted with such stunning writing. You see, we have to eat, and we have to survive, and yet we must protect our dignity and our identity. There are things we do to achieve those things. But we can respect the land and the animals that are on it. Always be kind to the land, the people, and the animals that are on it. Remember that. It’s the most important rule in the world.”

Success!

Bloomsbury Publishing". Bloomsbury.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2008 . Retrieved 12 December 2010. A beautifully crafted novel that sits at the intersection of race and class, that flags the frank truth of the life of migrant workers for whom a flight to freedom can become the most finely woven trap.”—JODI PICOULT, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Two Ways The novel has been favourably compared to other World War I and II novels, including All Quiet on the Western Front, The Young Lions and War and Remembrance. [19] Gorra described the novel as even more original than Barker's The Ghost Road and the rest of her Regeneration Trilogy. [9] Kate Saunders, reviewing Birdsong for The Sunday Times, praised the novel and described it as "without the political cynicism that colours more modern treatments of this catastrophe". [17] Reviewers have also compared the novel to other literary works; for example, for one critic, the lead up to the Somme was as persuasive as the "scene in Henry V before the Battle of Agincourt", while the novelist Suzanne Ruta writes that Faulks creates characters with a similar depth to those in Thomas Hardy novels. [17] Adaptations [ edit ] Nisha's lover is Yiannis and he asks her to marry him. But then Nisha is gone and he cannot let go of her. He had opened up to her and described his job as a poacher of songbirds and he knows he shattered her view of him forever. It is Yiannis's job as a poacher, with vivid and horrifying descriptions of the mass destruction of the songbirds (by hands and mouth), that made it hard for me to continue reading this book. I know that others have been able to get past this part of the book but my mind could hardly take in the rest of the story as I still can't let go of the descriptions of Yiannis poaching. Goods that by reason of their nature, cannot be returned - (Items such as underwear, where the 'hygiene patch' has been removed, or cosmetics where the seal has been broken).

Songbirds by Christy Lefteri is a heartbreaking tale exploring the struggles domestic workers have to go through just to provide their families with the basic necessities of life. Reading this book has clearly shown me the stark divide between people who are overflowing with privilege without even being aware of it, just like how a fish doesn't know it's submerged in overflowing ocean water, and people who have to sacrifice their entire youth just to provide their families with things that are default aspects of many people's lives that require little to no sacrifices. Another contrast we see highlighted in this book is the one between disgusting cruelty and selfless kindness, two attitudes human beings are equally capable of, but lean on one more than the other due to their own upbringing. Gorra described the novel's split into parallel narratives as the critical fault in the reading experience of the novel. [9] For de Groot, however, the split structure provides one of the most sophisticated elements of the novel. [8] De Groot writes that Benson's investigation of personal history allows Faulks to examine the difference between the two perspectives on the memory, highlighting the "unknowability of the horror of war" and of history more generally. [8] Trauma [ edit ] Death surrounded British soldiers on the front line, often to the point of breaking their psychological endurance. Faulks explores this historical trauma, throughout the novel. Painting by C. R. W. Nevinson, 1917. Yiannis is a poacher, trapping the tiny protected songbirds that stop in Cyprus asthey migrate each year from Africa to Europe and selling them on the illegalmarket. He dreams of finding a new way of life, and of marrying Nisha.

Goldsbrough, Susannah (2020-05-19). "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, review: less Hunger Games, more sixth-form philosophy". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235 . Retrieved 2020-05-20. a b c Nikkhah, Roya (23 May 2010). "Sebastian Faulks novel Birdsong to be made into West End play". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016 . Retrieved 30 August 2016. a b "The Big Read – Top 100 Books". BBC. 2003. Archived from the original on 31 October 2012 . Retrieved 12 December 2010. a b c d e de Groot, Jerome (2010). The Historical Novel. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp.100–104. ISBN 978-0-415-42662-6.