Really strong middle grade book with an overall message of acceptance and coming of age. Enjoyed the setting at a summer camp in Texas, where the main character Nina is spending a summer with her Aunt Audrey, who is the camp director. Nina is different and has trouble making friends at school because she will sometimes get intense about a certain thing, and she struggles with picking up on nonverbal clues. She loves the outdoors and is especially passionate about birds, so her parents reason that spending a summer at the camp in the middle of a marsh is a great experience.

There's a group of misfits at camp that Nina instantly befriends. She discovers by accident that a whooping crane may be living in the marsh. Which is a really big deal because whooping cranes haven't been seen in Texas in years! She sets about, with the help of her friends, learning more about whooping cranes and their extraordinary lives.

Recommended for ages 8+.