The Confusion of Laurel Graham [Adrienne Kisner]; 2019 YA Releases

The Confusion of Laurel Graham by Adrienne Kisner is just too contemporary and too family for me to enjoy. I know there are plenty of people out there who enjoy stories like this one, but I am unfortunately just not one of them. I can be pretty weary of contemporary for the most part unless a romance is involved because I just don’t find real life in this day and age all that interesting–horrible, I know–and I’ve never been big on family-related tales. So, this one, with a bird-watching main character and an overarching plot involving her grandmother and a car accident? Yeah, it’s just not my thing.

Seventeen-year-old Laurel Graham has a singular, all-consuming ambition in this life: become the most renowned nature photographer and birder in the world. The first step to birding domination is to win the junior nature photographer contest run by prominent Fauna magazine. Winning runs in her blood—her beloved activist and nature-loving grandmother placed when she was a girl.

One day Gran drags Laurel out on a birding expedition where the pair hear a mysterious call that even Gran can’t identify. The pair vow to find out what it is together, but soon after, Gran is involved in a horrible car accident.

Now that Gran is in a coma, so much of Laurel's world is rocked. Her gran's house is being sold, developers are coming in to destroy the nature sanctuary she treasures, and she still can't seem to identify the mystery bird.

Laurel’s confusion isn’t just a group of warblers—it’s about what means the most to her, and what she’s willing to do to fight to save it. Maybe--just maybe-if she can find the mystery bird, it will save her gran, the conservatory land, and herself.

What are your thoughts on The Confusion of Lauren Graham? Does this sound like a novel you’d be interested in reading? What are your thoughts on the bird-watching bit? Let me know in the comments!