The Big Black Bird - Paperback

by Stefanie Höfler (Author), Susanne Labrake (Translator), Lynette Raven (Editor)

Along with the shouts of the paramedics there was a type of pumping sound and a kind of clicking noise. In between that was a ghostly silence. Shout-pump-click-silence. Shout-pump-click-silence. Shout-pump-click-silence.

'Stand back. Clear.' And then, just before my dad left me in the hall and went back into the bedroom, I heard a softly spoken, 'There's nothing more we can do'.

The day that fourteen-year-old Ben's mother suddenly dies is a bright and sunny October morning, and leaves Ben, his younger brother 'Crumb' and their father to experience loss first hand.

Ben draws the reader into his world of learning to adapt to a completely new life, including dealing with the discomfort of classmates and friends, and establishing a different relationship with his father as he, too, struggles with his own shock and grief. Whilst memories of his mother constantly surface, Ben discovers that even if things are suddenly no longer the same as they once were, life not only goes on, but is filled with new and wonderful things.

Nominated for the Young Adult Literature Prize in Germany.

On the recommended reading list of 'The Silver Feather' (German Medical Association).

Listed as one of the seven best books for young readers (Deutschlandfunk - a German public broadcasting company).