Ming-Li looked up and tried to imagine the sky silent, empty of birds.
It was a terrible thought.
Her country's leader had called sparrows the enemy of the farmers--they were eating too much grain, he said.
He announced a great Sparrow War to banish them from China, but Ming-Li did not want to chase the birds away.
As the people of her village gathered with firecrackers and gongs to scatter the sparrows, Ming-Li held her ears and watched in dismay.
The birds were falling from the trees, frightened to deathMing-Li knew she had to do something--even if she couldn't stop the noise.
Quietly, she vowed to save as many sparrows as she could, one by one.
Hyperion Books Sparrow girl, hardcover/sara pennypacker
