Birdie’s Billions is a fun story for those who enjoy reading about someone experiencing a sudden windfall. With her newfound money, main character Birdie finds her life gets complicated to say the least. Birdie is a character who feels very authentic: a young girl who just wants to fit in. At times, Birdie might drive readers crazy as she continually lies to fit in, digging herself into a deeper hole again and again. Be patient though because if she didn’t make so many mistakes it wouldn’t make as interesting of a story and the ending wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying. Along with being entertaining the story is full of great themes such as the importance of telling the truth, embracing your differences, and owning up to your mistakes. Tweens will love and likely relate in one way or another to this great read.

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy provided by Bloomsbury Children’s Books

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 5 religious exclamations

Violence/Gore: Several (13) brief incidents including reference to sharks biting; character thinking another might torture cats; character thinking she killed someone by saying they were dead before they were; verbal threat; reference to house getting damaged; reference to police shooting and beating up innocent people; reference to grandparents dying; character accidentally breaking figurine; second-hand report of adult shooting someone in the shoulder; character nearly drowning.

Sex/Nudity: Few (3) brief incidents including mother thinking her daughter likes a boy; young female character thinking a young male character is cute; young character referencing reading to adult character about kissing parts and “more than kissing parts” in a book.

Mature Subject Matter:

Character in jail; father leaving family; excessive lying; theft; references to bodily functions (3); references to racism (3).

Drug/Alcohol Use:

Relief shot through character “like a drug.”