Wild Bird

Written by Wendelin Van Draanen in 2017, Wild Bird is a young adult (YA) novel that follows the story of 14-year-old Wren Clemmens, a teenage girl whose increasingly reckless and defiant behavior causes her parents to send her to a wilderness therapy camp in Utah. The novel explores themes of shedding labels and exploring new avenues of self-discovery, overcoming the struggles of adolescence, and embracing the healing power of nature, community, and storytelling.

Wendell Van Draanen is an American writer who has penned numerous books for middle grade and teenage readers. Her books have won numerous awards and accolades, including the Edgar Award for her mystery series, Sammy Keyes. Her 2002 novel, Flipped, was also adapted into a feature film. Other works of hers include Swear to Howdy and The Running Dream.

This guide is based on the Kindle edition published by Random House Children’s Books.

Content Warning: Both the source material and this guide contain descriptions of substance abuse, sexual abuse, violence, familial conflict, emotional distress, and the unique challenges of a wilderness therapy setting.

Plot Summary

The novel begins in medias res as a police officer unexpectedly arrives to take 14-year-old Wren Clemmens away from her house in the middle of the night. Her parents offer no explanation for this except to say that they are left with no other option. A furious Wren is flown to Utah, where she is given a typed letter from her mother, explaining that Wren must undergo an eight-week wilderness therapy program in the desert. Camp counselors named Michelle and John escort Wren and another young teenager named Dax to base camp. After Wren and Dax undergo a physical examination, they are taught to assemble and carry supplies in tarpaulin packs. Then, they are blindfolded, and a handsome young man named Silver Hawk drives them and their counselors to their respective camping spots.

Upon arriving at her camp in the desert, Wren is given a beginning designation of “Rabbit” and is told that she must advance to the next level, “Coyote,” before the other girls will be allowed to interact with her. Wren’s first night at camp is terrible. She rejects Michelle’s help and advice and sets up her tent and tarp improperly, and as a result, a rain shower drenches her during the night. In accordance with the rules, no one else steps forward to help despite Wren’s yelling. For the next couple of days, Wren continues to refuse any help or conversation from the counsellors or from Tara, the visiting therapist.

When Wren finally runs out of dry rations and drinking water, she accepts help from Dvorka, another counselor. Dvorka reveals that Wren must master both water and fire to advance to Coyote level, so Wren finally looks through the handbook she has been given. Later that evening, the girls receive a visit from Mokov, an older man who is of Paiute heritage; he tells them stories drawn from the legends of his culture.

Michelle helps Wren find the right supplies to make a bow-drill fire, but Wren’s first few attempts are unsuccessful. However, one of the Coyotes breaks the rules and encourages her to make the fire and join them more quickly. Feeling bolstered by the support, Wren reattempts the fire and is successful. She is inducted into the Coyotes with a ceremony in which the other Coyotes each share their stories of how they first came to camp. Wren is invited to be the Coyotes’ storyteller.

Throughout her time in the desert, Wren learns to take down and set up her camp in different locations. At each resupply point, she encounters Silver Hawk, eventually learning that he is Mokov’s grandson. Wren begins to enjoy her time in the desert as she grows more capable and skilled. She also bonds with the other girls, especially Hannah, who relates her own struggles with her past heroin addiction and her mother’s abandonment.

Wren doesn’t share as much of her own story with Hannah and refuses to write letters home or confront her feelings; however, the story of her past challenges at home is gradually revealed in a series of reflections and flashbacks. The Clemmens family moved to Los Angeles when Wren was in the sixth grade. Her parents became preoccupied with their new jobs, and her older sister Annabella focused primarily on her new friends, leaving Wren feeling lonely and isolated. In flashbacks, the narrative relates Wren’s growing friendship with an older girl named Meadow, who introduced her to marijuana and exploited her by encouraging her to steal money from her parents and teaching her to shoplift; Meadow also kept the spoils from these misdeeds. When Wren discovered the truth of this arrangement, she and Meadow had a falling out, but they eventually made up because Wren was unable to make any other new friends.

During her freshman year of high school, Wren began delivering hard drugs for Nico—her crush—while spiraling further into alcohol and marijuana addiction. Her relationship with Meadow also grew more toxic, with Meadow feeling violent jealousy about Wren’s relationship with Nico. Wren exacerbated this jealousy by lying about doing dangerous and exciting things with Nico, such as getting high on heroin and breaking into houses to steal things. During this time, Wren’s relationship with her family also deteriorated; she fought with her parents, who put her through multiple therapy sessions, and she also clashed with Annabella, who warned her away from her new “friends” and reported her misdeeds to their parents. However, Wren continued to have a good relationship with her younger brother, Morris, bonding with him through storytelling.

The narrative shifts back to the present moment and relates a series of trust-building exercises at camp, after which Wren opens up to Hannah about her past relationship with Meadow. Shortly afterward, Wren receives a letter from home with news that Nico and Meadow have been arrested in a drug bust. Her parents have also accessed her text history, reading the messages in which Wren boasted to Meadow about things that she supposedly did with Nico. Panicked and overwhelmed, Wren breaks down and confesses to Hannah about the final outburst that led her to camp. She carved a swastika into her mother’s piano, whose family had lived through and survived a Nazi occupation of their home, managing to save the piano throughout their ordeal. When Wren was confronted about her destructive action, she proceeded to smash up her house with a baseball bat in a drunken rage.

Now, Wren is unable to deal with the strength of her raw feelings. This prompts the counsellors to send her on a quest, where she spends three days in the desert by herself. Mokov leads her to the final camping spot in the canyon, telling her a Paiute story about the Wren and the Eagle, with a message to respect those who lift her up. Wren successfully sets up camp alone. She survives the rain and collects fresh water, successfully starts a fire, and cooks her own meals. She even witnesses the snowfall at night as she fends off circling coyotes. Surviving in the wild alone helps her to confront her feelings about everything that has occurred over the past three years, and Wren finally pens long letters to her family, telling them the truth about past events and asking for forgiveness.

Wren returns to the main camp feeling transformed; her family’s letters, in response to her own, give her additional hope that things can be different in the future. Over the course of the eight-week program, all the other Grizzlies eventually graduate, with new teenagers taking their place. The day before Hannah leaves, Wren meets Silver Hawk again at a resupply point, and he reveals that Mokov was watching over her throughout her quest and was impressed by how well she fought off the coyotes.

Wren decides that when she returns home, she will not change schools but will bravely face her demons. She eventually advances to the level of “Falcon,” and her entire family comes to camp to be with her on her last day. They are stunned at her transformation and tell her that she looks like a “warrior.” In response to her mother’s question, Wren asserts that learning how to start a fire was the crucial turning point for her. The novel ends with Wren’s gratitude for her time in the desert as she proceeds to show Morris how to start a fire.