Susan Gates

Outside of a great city, thirteen-year-old Firebird Tucker lives in a swamp sheltered from prying eyes by a billboard. Her father distrusts outsiders, so she and her twin brother Ford have never left the swamplands, not even to attend school. As strangers begin infiltrating the Tuckers’ land, the legends that Firebird’s grandmother have woven around the family begin to unravel, and Firebird must venture into the city to discover the truth about her past.
First and foremost, I'm going to show more say that I did enjoy this book. I have to make that clear, because I'm going to bash it now.
The setting was completely ambiguous, which can work in some stories, but not in this one. I'm still trying to figure out how the swamp was too far north for sunflowers to grow naturally but not too far north for parakeets to be commonplace. The timeframe was unclear as well: presumably it takes place in the future, but there was nothing distinctly "futuristic" about it besides the unusual weather patterns. I'm not saying that there should have been androids and flying cars in it; just *something* to indicate future besides weird rain storms. And speaking of the weather, I found the emphasis on global warming a little annoying. To top it off, some details of the story were unbelievable. For example, Firebird manages to carry a grappling hook into a crowded office building, climb up to the roof, smash a searchlight and get back out of the building virtually unnoticed and without being pursued.
Okay, now that I'm done pointing out everything that was wrong with this book, I'll tell you what I liked. Firebird is an engaging character and easy to root for. The supporting characters, particularly Gran and Ford, are interesting and well-developed, and the exciting plot twists kept me reading even when some of the details seemed ridiculous.
I'd recommend it for kids ages 10-14. show less

For the most part, I really enjoyed this one. It wasn't what I expected, though. I thought it was going to end up be some huge shocking secret but it really wasn't. The narration was also a bit inconsistant but not terribly soon. I like the characters, though. Firebird was strong be intelligent and Ford was also very believable. It was interesting to see how the twins reacted when they got old enough to realize they were being fooled by Carol-Ann and Trapper. It was a fun, easy, mysterious show more read and I really like it- it just didn't have the depth that I was assuming it would have based on the description. show less

Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com

This book surprised me. I liked it a lot.

Firebird and Ford are thirteen-year-old twins. They have lived all of their life with their grandma and dad because their mother died in childbirth. Trapper, the dad, is in the eel business. Ford and Trapper spend all their days hunting eel in the swamp where they live. Firebird sits and looks at a billboard which hides them from the outside and dreams of seeing faraway places. She also makes purses out show more of eel skins and colorful feathers. Her grandma takes them and puts them in a locked cupboard.

One day, Firebird runs out of feathers and looks in the cupboard for some more. To her surprise there aren't any purses there. Her grandmother has been lying to her. Firebird then follows her into the city and finds that grandma has been selling her purses there. This floors Firebird and causes her to wonder what is true in her life.

I liked BEYOND THE BILLBOARD but at times I needed to suspend belief. I don't think that people can live so close to a big city with children and no one would know. But, if you can believe that, then the story is excellent and the mystery is interesting.

I had a hard time with the eels but the characters are great. I wanted to be Firebird's friend. I also want to know more about the twins. If you find this book then read it. It is a good one. show less

An interesting tale by anyone's standards, this book is full of interesting twists and turns. Two children fall victim to the villianous plot of Dr. Fell, olfactory expert and mad scientest of the past. Smells abound in this time traveling adventure, adn the children must rescue the VSB (that's violet smelling boy) and save the world in the process, before Dr. Fell uses his mad scientist know how to destroy civilization as we know it.