A Bird on Water Street Paperback – May 7, 2014

This is a compelling story that not only would capture the minds of young readers but adult alike. If you’ve lived in the Tri-State area long enough, you knew of the Copper Basin. If you’ve lived in the area long enough, you knew of men who worked in the mines. If you still lived in the area long enough, you met their sons, who sat in folding chairs holding signs at the picket line for an indefinite period of time. Being an outsider of the Copper Basin, one did not comprehend the draw to mining. Elizabeth O. Dulemba provides that understanding through the eyes, ears and minds of young Jack and his best friend, Piran, young teens with curious minds.While the copper mine was an environmental disaster, it was a learned experience. It probably took the famous photograph from space to realize the magnitude of this disaster. Young Jack was learning first hand, after being exposed to the outside world through books on amphibians, birds and trees, the importance of what the red hills actually represented.Putting aside the environmental aspect, this was a great read. Jack and Piran, like most, were vulnerable, innocent teens. The author kept me captivated with anticipation as to what the boys would get into next or how Jack's parents would handle the impending outcome of the Copper Mine.Elizabeth O. Dulemba reflected the pride of men steeped in the tradition of mining. As horrible work as mining is, there are generations of those who believe in it using the right technological advancements just as generations of farmers or fishermen who have made vast improvements based on past generational mistakes.This is a book I hope finds its way into the middle school libraries.

Jack loves his home. Why would anyone want to live anywhere other than Coppertown, a safe, warm place where he is surrounded by family and friends? Sure, there's illness that some people blame on the mine's dumping of chemicals, fear of mining accidents, and no one has seen a bird for years, but it's home. A BIRD ON WATER STREET explores the changes Jack and Coppertown undergo when the miners strike after an accident and big layoff.Although the bigger picture of this book includes the downside of mining and how the countryside around Coppertown has been brutalized over the years, Jack's story stays front and center. His family, his crush on a friend's sister, the loss of his baseball team when so many teammates' families must move away to find work, Jack's fears that his own family might have to leave Coppertown... and beautifully, Jack's budding awareness of the ecosystem that is his home town and it surrounding hills.Dulemba expertly weaves the strands of Coppertown's environmental, economic, and personal relationships and gives a life-affirming portrait of a Southern Appalachian town needing and ready for new life. Jack's story is set in the late 1980s, but could replicate the experience of countless miners' children in this country and the world, in the past century and the present.And how wonderful to have a title that is not instantly "given away," but comes to mean more when the reader turns the book's last page.Note for teachers: the author's web page features links and additional features to expand learning possibilities.

Until I was ten years old my family lived in a house without trees. My friend’s homes, across the road had them but we lived on the “sunny side” of the street. I was envious I wanted a shade tree to play under. So Jack and I had a lot in common.Dulemba’s book is not just for kids but for a lot of us that still feel like kids. I loved this book. I have watched for over 30 yrs as Copper Basin slowly came to life. The first time my husband and I saw the devastation we were over whelmed and did not have the story on what made it that way. We were visiting the area so we started asking questions. Twenty years ago we moved to the area but the author filled in so many facts that we never found. I imagine there must have been a real Jack back then wanting to bring green life to his town.I also loved that she dealt with subjects that would have been very taboo for a teen book in my era such as pregnancy, bullying, drugs and death. This is a book I want my grandchildren to read and that’s the best endorsement I can give.

At first glance, one might sum this up as a quiet coming-of-age novel. Or, they might call it a middle-grade environmental issue book. A BIRD ON WATER STREET is indeed both of those things, but not in the ways you'd expect. And it's so much more! The realistic and complex interpersonal relationships of both the young people and the adults, the intricate economic realities of living in a one-company town, the seeming paradox of the miners' dependence on the mine for their livelihoods while it simultaneously destroys their environment, the weight of carrying on an established family tradition versus self-determination... all of these themes are woven gracefully together in this beautiful and moving novel. It never feels preachy or overdone, but rather illustrates how multi-faceted real-life issues can be in powerfully thought-provoking ways. As such, I think it's a great choice for individual pleasure reading as well as for book clubs and classroom discussions. Readers will still be thinking about this one for a long time after reading, and that's a great thing.

Very nice book, arrived in perfect condition