Physical improbabilities

There are places in the book where I had trouble believing what happens is physically possiible, especially near the end. And there's a glaring error about basic bird biology. Did that bother anyone else?

I found that this book lent itself really well to a suspension of disbelief when needed. Even though it's obviously based in reality, a lot of it felt very deliberately heightened in a way where I felt that a few 'unrealistic' moments were intentional choices on the author's part rather than errors.

I wondered about whether or not the improbabilities were meant to be in Frannie's mind - a story she told herself about what happened. After all, she has told herself her mother ran away and she's looking for her, which we find out isn't so. Maybe some of the events at the end are things she has to believe as well?

Good point about her mind—it’s so easy to interpret and reshape events to fit out own narrative.

I believe that there is a bit of mystical realism in this book, and agree that Franny had her own reality (as do we all). But what is the "glaring error about basic bird biology" that I missed?

For one - touching a baby bird doesn't cause a mother bird to abandon it or the nest.

I agree with pauj, both about the mystical realism and Frannie's own reality. Anything I wondered about, I was able to dismiss because it was what Frannie believed.

I was never suspicious about any bird information that was shared. I'm not an expert, so I found it easy to accept all claims. The item concerning what would happen if a human being touched a baby bird--that its mother would then abandon it, made perfect sense to me.

I noticed this, too, and it is what most affected my rating. I enjoy a good environmental tale, but one that weaves real information into it is even better! Perhaps some sort of disclosure about the intended reality would have enhanced my interpretation.

I can readily accept a bit of bird misinformation because we've all heard that touching a baby animal will cause its mother to abandon it. But learning about the terns far outweighed any minor inconsistency. We know that Franny is a bit of an unbelievable narrator since she hides truth even from herself. What was hard for me to believe was her survival in all of those submergings in freezing water.