The Someday Birds

Sally J. Pla’s novel The Someday Birds is a middle grade story originally published in 2017 by HarperCollins Children’s Books. In 2018, The Someday Birds won the Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award. The central storyline is informed by Pla’s activism supporting people with autism and her own experience as a neurodivergent person.

The novel is written from the perspective of the protagonist Charlie, a boy with autism, and set in various locations across the United States. His dad, Robert, is a war journalist in Afghanistan who becomes injured and is sent to a hospital in Virginia for special treatment, so Charlie, his family, and their new friend Ludmila must drive in a rickety RV from California to meet Robert there. Throughout the drive, Charlie finds solace in books about birds. When he realizes his road trip is the perfect time to find all the birds on the list he and his dad made, Charlie’s perspective on his adventure begins to change. Charlie’s cross-country experiences inspire the novel’s explorations of The Healing Power of Nature, the Journey Towards Personal Growth and Acceptance, and The Role of Family in Personal Development.

This guide refers to the 2017 HarperCollins Children’s Books paperback edition of the novel.

Content Warning: The novel discusses ableism toward people with autism.

Plot Summary

The novel opens in Southern California, where 12-year-old Charlie lives with his dad Robert, sister Davis, and twin brothers Joel and Jake. Because Charlie’s mom died when he was two, Charlie relies upon his dad’s calming presence at home to feel safe. Therefore, when Dad travels to Afghanistan to report on a story and is injured in a bombing, Charlie is scared that his life will never return to normal. Charlie’s grandmother, Gram, comes to take care of the children, but she soon has to travel to Virginia when Dad is transferred to a different hospital to see new doctors. Shortly thereafter, Charlie’s house falls into chaos, and he calls Gram begging for her to help him restore order.

Gram sends a mysterious new acquaintance named Ludmila to take care of Charlie and his siblings in her and Dad’s absence. Ludmila has been visiting Dad at the hospital since his injury, but Charlie and his siblings don’t know anything else about her. Therefore, Davis wakes Charlie up in the middle of the night and tells him that her boyfriend is going to drive them to Virginia to escape Ludmila and reconnect with Dad and Gram. Charlie doesn’t like the idea of traveling, but he agrees.

Shortly after they reach Las Vegas, Davis’s boyfriend crashes the car, and Ludmila has to rescue them. She then announces that she’s going to drive them to Virginia herself. Charlie and his siblings still don’t trust Ludmila and can’t imagine what might happen next.

Meanwhile, Charlie tries to stay calm by reading his favorite ornithologist Dr. Tiberius Shaw’s personal journal and drawing and writing in his own Bird Book. Charlie has loved birds ever since he can remember and thinks they’re easier to understand than people. He and Dad also made a Someday Birds List of all the birds they want to find someday. As he and his family venture further away from home, Charlie realizes that this might be the perfect time to cross the birds off the list.

Charlie and his family stop in Wyoming, where Ludmila’s former foster mother lends them an RV. They drive the rest of the way in the camper. They stop at Yellowstone National Park, camp in Montana, visit Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, and take a stop at Little Bighorn. Along the way, Charlie starts to encounter the birds he thought it’d be impossible to see in real life. He feels excited knowing that he’ll be able to show Dad their completed list.

While driving, Charlie and Davis start asking Ludmila about her life. They discover that her brother Amar was killed in the bombing that injured Dad in Afghanistan. She also tells them about her childhood in Bosnia in the 1990s. As Charlie listens, he compares Ludmila’s story to his own.

Gram calls Ludmila to say that Dad needs another surgery, and they should hurry along to Virginia. At the hospital, the family sits in the waiting room while Dad goes into the operating room. When Charlie sees Gram crying while talking to the doctor, he’s convinced Dad is dead. Terrified, he flees the hospital and takes a cab to the Sanctuary Marsh where Dr. Tiberius Shaw supposedly lives. While there, he finds a Carolina parakeet and follows it into a cove of trees. He sits in the shade, studies the birds, and feels better. He also leaves a letter for Shaw in his mailbox at the marsh. Afterwards, a park ranger helps him contact his family, and Ludmila picks him up and takes him back to his family. He learns that Dad’s surgery actually went well, and Gram was only crying because she was happy.

Gram stays with Dad in Virginia until he’s ready to come home. Before Charlie and his family fly back to California, Charlie receives a letter from Shaw commending his bravery and encouraging him to stay strong. Charlie reads it on the airplane and feels proud of himself for everything he’s accomplished.