The Hermit Thrush Sings - by Susan Butler -- an unwanted girl with a strangely webbed hand finds that she can succeed beyond her dreams, in this exciting adventure. Perhaps a hundred years ago, a natural disaster destroyed civilization, and now Leora's people survive in isolated, fenced-in villages, struggling to grow enough food, to fight off the Bimba's (horrible ape-bear creatures) and to weed out the mutations that sometimes appear in their own children.
Leora is such a mutant, despised by her stepmother ever since the deaths of her father and elder sister. But when she finds that a tiny baby bimba has been caught by the soldiers, she finds herself rescuing it, setting in motion a chain of events she could never have predicted.
My only complaint about this story is that Leora's gift, which comes to her as she makes her first attempt at independent action, is so powerful that her own choices, decisions and free will seem totally irrelevant. She never has to choose to act, to trust, or to rely on her own courage; instead, her magical power of foretelling, often expressed through drawings, gives her all the answers she ever needs.
Otherwise, this is a tightly plotted, well-written adventure story. Leora's world is lightly-sketched, but believable; secondary characters are not deep, but are nicely portrayed. The plot takes several nice twists, but is ultimately predictable, though satisfying. It does leave itself open for a sequel, which I look forward to reading.
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