Winner of Barbara Kingsolver's Bellwether Prize, an award in support of a literature of social responsibility, The Book of Dead Birds is an intimate portrait of a young woman at a defining moment in her life, who stands at the intersection of two cultures and races.

Ava Sing Lo has been accidentally killing her mother's birds since she was a little girl. Now, having just finished her graduate work, Ava leaves her native San Diego for the Salton Sea, where she volunteers to help environmental activists save thousands of birds poisoned by agricultural run-off.

Helen, Ava's mother, has been haunted by her past for decades. As a young girl in Korea, Helen was drawn into prostitution on a segregated American army base. Several brutal years passed before a young white American soldier married her and brought her to California. When she gave birth to a black baby, her new husband quickly abandoned her, and she was left to fend for herself and her daughter in a foreign country.

With great beauty and lyricism, The Book of Dead Birds captures a young woman's struggle to come to terms with her mother's terrible past while she searches for her own place in the world. This moving mother-daughter story of migration, survival, and reconciliation resonates across cultures and through generations.

"The Book of Dead Birds is a story of healing — a skillful, textured weaving of dark and light." Donna M. Gershten, author of Kissing the Virgin's Mouth

"It has an edgy beauty that enhances perfectly the seriousness of its contents." Toni Morrison

"An emotional story forged in crystalline prose....Brandeis channels Ava with the precision of a poet, creating an elegant tale...in which beauty is rendered from brutal sources." Bust Magazine

"Lyrical, imaginative, beautifully crafted, and deeply intelligent. Before anything else, its characters take you by the heart." Barbara Kingsolver

"A moving and perceptive first novel." O Magazine

"Intricate and elegant...a novel that illustrates a compelling search for meaning that is ultimately familiar." Denver Post

"A wrenching tale." Kirkus Reviews

"Although Brandeis's writing is at times heavyhanded, the book is poignant and well researched, weaving corporate malfeasance, prostitution, racism, and sexual dysfunction into Ava's coming-of-age story." Library Journal

"[T]he plight of the mother and daughter is...heartbreaking....[A] wrenching tale." Kirkus Reviews

Ava Sing Lo has been accidentally killing her mother's birds since she was a little girl. Now in her twenties, Ava leaves her native San Diego for the Salton Sea, where she volunteers to help environmental activists save thousands of birds poisoned by agricultural runoff.

Helen, her mother, has been haunted by her past for decades. As a young girl in Korea, Helen was drawn into prostitution on a segregated American army base. Several brutal years passed before a young white American soldier married her and brought her to California. When she gave birth to a black baby, her new husband quickly abandoned her, and she was left to fend for herself and her daughter in a foreign country.

With great beauty and lyricism, The Book of Dead Birdscaptures a young woman's struggle to come to terms with her mother's terrible past while she searches for her own place in the world.

Brandeis eloquently captures a young woman's struggle to come to terms with her mother's terrible past while she searches for her own place in the world.

Gayle Brandeis is the author of Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write Her work has appeared in Salon and HipMama, among other publications. She lives in Riverside, California, with her husband and two children. The Book of Dead Birds is her first novel.