Like a Bird
by Becky Citra
Second Story Press, 2025
ISBN 9781772604177
$15.95, 291 pp, ages 13 – 18
https://secondstorypress.ca/
This story follows 16-year-old Rachel and her new life in Aspen Lake, BC. She has friends and a boyfriend after living there for a year, but in the beginning, she isn’t satisfied with most aspects of her personal or social life. Nearby wildfires gradually increase stress in Rachel’s life, forcing her to become honest with the people she loves the most. In her family, she’s shown as incredibly resilient as she takes responsibility for her sister Jane, her grandparents, and the farm. Contrarily, she feels like an outsider in her friend group and struggles with building her relationship with her boyfriend and his friends. The story progresses slowly, revealing different effects of wildfires and how they affect the people of Aspen Lake.
Classroom Connections: Wildfires are one of the driving issues in the book, which can bring up a larger topic of climate change in the classroom. The book is fiction, but it was based on the wildfire of 2021 in Lytton, BC. The changing climate is relevant for all students, and this book shows how different areas are affected more severely, and how people can’t ignore the issues facing them. The author also uses the incoming wildfires as a metaphor for Rachel’s build-up of stress, which students can relate to and learn from. Many students can see themselves in Rachel’s arc of perseverance and bravery and the coming-of-age themes presented in the book.
Review by Katherine West-Sells.
This review is featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Fall 2025 issue.
