Science · Independent with discussion
The Race to Save the Lord God Bird
Phillip Hoose · Grades 6–8
Representative cover from Open Library — edition may differ.
Why it belongs
Hoose builds a scientific detective story from field notes, personalities, photographs, and contested sightings, allowing evidence and uncertainty to drive the narrative.
The pursuit and probable loss of the ivory-billed woodpecker links ornithology, specimen collecting, plume fashion, southern logging, and the beginnings of organized bird conservation.
Living Bookshop placement
Faith and worldview: Wonder must mature into responsibility: human economies and habits can erase a creature, while careful witness and collective action may still protect what remains.
Birds are shot and collected; habitat destruction, extinction, and economic displacement are sobering themes. Claims of later sightings remain disputed, and official status can change, so check current scientific assessments rather than treating the ending as settled.
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Farrar, Straus and Giroux · Print edition
August 11, 2004 · ISBN 9780374361730
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Farrar, Straus and Giroux · Print edition · ISBN 9780374361730
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