Nightingale's Nest Hardcover – February 20, 2014

Every once in awhile you read a book that stays with you long after you've closed the cover. Nikki Loftin's beautiful tale of a boy (Little John) living in the shadow and guilt of his sister's death and a mysterious foster child (Gayle) he befriends, is one of those stories. Gayle has a magical voice-literally- and Little John is tricked into betraying Gayle and robbing her of her voice. He is determined to make things right and must make some difficult choices to be the person HE wants to be and not who his father thinks he should be. The magical realism genre has gotten so good lately! You'll want to include this book on your "To Be Read" list for sure!!

With wonderful characters and gorgeous language, I couldn't put "Nightingale's Nest" down and read it in a single sitting (which is pretty unusual for me). The fact that this is ostensibly a middle grade book shouldn't deter adult readers from picking it up. With themes including the death of a sibling, betrayal of friends, misplaced guilt, mental illness and poverty, there's a lot to consider in the story but it's also a wonderful, hopeful story of friendship. To a parent, the story comes across as extremely sad in places (no parent can help but feel for neglected children) but I strongly suspect younger readers will see the book rather differently and relish the beautiful elements of magic in the relationship between Little John and Gayle.

I bought this book for a 4th grader who loved the book. She belongs to the "book club" at our local library and this was one of the books they read and reviewed.

This was a real treat. I enjoyed every page. The author takes us through a young man's search for peace, his guilt over his sister's untimely death and his struggle to be the responsible member in the family. When he meets the foster child, Gale, her music gives him back as sense of his childhood, but will his actions rob her of her magic?

This book is a piece of art that is singing from the writer's soul. It captures the emotions of love, loss, fear, guilt and redemption. Nightingale's Nest is a good book to be read by adults as well as children, as there are many layers of depth to the happenings and emotions in the book. Your age and your range of experience will lead you to look deeper into the lives of the characters.There are lessons to be learned by stepping into this tale, so exquisitely woven that you won't want to leave Nightingale's nest of beauty.

good book I need to finish

Christmas gift.

Children finding beauty in hard situations. Another engaging story.