Summary and Reviews of A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe by Mahogany Browne

A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe by Mahogany L. Browne

A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe

by Mahogany L. Browne
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  • Mar 11, 2025, 160 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

In this poignant mixed voice, mixed form collection of interconnected prose, poems and stories, teen characters, their families, and their communities grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst fear and loss, these New York City teens prevail with love, resilience and hope. From the award-winning author of Chlorine Sky and Vinyl Moon.

Grief, pain, hope, and love collide in this short story collection.

In New York City, teens, their families, and their communities feel the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst the fear and loss, these teens and the adults around them persevere with love and hope while living in difficult circumstances:

  • Malachi writes an Armageddon short story inspired by his pandemic reality.
  • Tariq helps their ailing grandmother survive during quarantine.
  • Zamira struggles with depression and loneliness after losing her parents.
  • Mohamed tries to help keep his community spirit alive.
  • A social worker reflects on the ways the foster system fails their children.

From award-winning author Mahogany L. Browne comes a poignant collection of interconnected prose, poems, and lists about the humanity and resilience of New Yorkers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Reviews

BookBrowse Review

BookBrowse

In A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe, author Mahogany L. Browne has built an intricate web of disparate yet interconnected lives, a structure that mirrors the book's central idea: that even during a time of great isolation, we remained connected to the people around us in small yet important ways...continued

Full Review (751 words)

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(Reviewed by Callum McLaughlin).

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Beyond the Book



The Social Impact of COVID-19 on Young Adults

COVID-19 has had an immense impact on people of all ages, in all stages of life, and in all parts of the world. Mahogany L. Browne's novel A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe focuses on the various effects on young people's lives, which are still being felt and studied today. Along with the widespread death, disability, and legitimate fear caused by the virus itself, these include the sometimes more complex social effects of isolation and lockdown.

One big impact that COVID had on young people was on their mental health. According to a 2024 report, anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescents doubled globally after the first year of the pandemic. In the US in 2021, 41% of young people reported feeling persistently sad or ...

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