One Bird

Took a bit to get into, but I became engaged after not too long by the writing, the recent cultural history and the honest, insightful, compassionate, imperfect young girl. I love the ending especially.

"Birds can drown in the water in their own small mouths, as if a few drops of water contained a whole ocean. My mother is a bird whose mouth has become a big sea of tears. She had to leave me to keep from drowning."

(Oh, look, it's told in present tense. Hm. So skillfully done I didn't even realize until I proofread the quotation.)