Carolina Crow Girl — Valerie Hobbs

In this beautifully written, moving novel, Valerie Hobbs explores the fine line between safety and stagnation, rootlessness and freedom.

Carolina lives with her mother, Melanie, and her baby sister in an old school bus. "Wheels make you free," Melanie says, even though Carolina has to start in a new school every year and leave just when she's getting settled. But this time things are different. First Carolina finds an abandoned baby crow and decides to care for him until he's old enough to fly. Then she meets Stefan, who lives in the mansion near where they've parked the bus. The two become friends, and Carolina starts, little by little, to set down roots. What's going to happen when Melanie wants to hit the road again? 

“From the start, Hobbs dazzles readers…This is the remarkable story of two outsiders who find it possible, through a friendship, to unlock the doors of their own cages.” -- Riverbank Reviews

"Readers will find themselves quickly drawn in by Hobbs's strong characters and rapidly unfolding plot." -- School Library Journal