Flyaway - by Suzie Gilbert (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Suzie Gilbert discovered her true calling when she began working at a local animal hospital. Eventually, she started bringing abused and unwanted parrots home, and volunteering at a local raptor rehabilitation center. From there it was a short flight to her ultimate commitment: Flyaway, Inc., the nonprofit wild bird rehabilitation center she ran out of her own home.

With heart and delightful wit, Gilbert chronicles daily life in her household-cum-bird-hospital, and recounts the resulting chaos as she, her husband, and their two young children struggled to live in a home where parrots shrieked Motown songs and recuperating herons took over the spare bathroom. Flyaway is a remarkable story of compassion for and dedication to beautiful creatures--and the importance of pursuing even the most unlikely of dreams.

Review Quotes

"Charms, delights, and educates while providing a fascinating tale of love and devotion to the feathered creatures that share our increasingly crowded world." -- Joanna Burger, author of The Parrot Who Owns Me

"Unique and engaging . . . [Gilbert] shows reveals in elegant prose how every creature has value, and how a voice for one is voice for all." -- Lyanda Lynn Haupt, author of Rare Encounters with Ordinary Birds

"Fascinating . . . . A testament to the challenges we all face when we love another being." -- Stacey O'Brien, author of Wesley the Owl

"Readers will acquire education plenty from Gilbert's discussions of the creatures she encounters and the challenges rehabbers face." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Gilbert's prose reads easily, ushered along by her clear, knowledgeable explanations of biology, medicine, natural history, nutrition, and animal behavior. . . . Strongly recommended." -- Henry T. Armistead, Library Journal

"Funny and insightful. . . . Most of us see birds through binoculars and windows. Suzie Gilbert has entered their lives." -- Carl Zimmer, author of Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life and Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea