World’s Worst Parrot

Ava is obsessed with creating the perfect image for her online followers. She carefully curates everything she posts and works to ensure all her selfies are picture perfect. And that is why she absolutely does not want Mervin, the parrot she inherits when her great-uncle, Bernie, passes away. Mervin is loud, smelly, and chaos follows in his wake.

To make matters worse, Ava’s obnoxious older brother, Gregg, loves to incite Mervin and then snap pictures and videos of the resulting havoc and post them online! Although Gregg thinks it is hilarious, and the online viewers are screaming for more Mervin videos, Ava just wants Mervin gone so she can get control of her life again. When Melissa, a girl at school, offers to help her with Mervin, Ava readily agrees – but that certainly doesn’t mean Ava wants to be friends with her!

Author Alice Kuipers has written Ava as the stereotypical social media driven pre-teen. She is shallow and finds validation in the likes she receives through her online presence. Her two BFFs are equally shallow and dump her within a day of Mervin’s arrival. Through the evolving relationships with Melissa and Mervin, however, the reader begins to see that there is more to Ava than #homelife #perfect #Sundays. She is struggling with fractured family relationships and anger towards her father whom she blames for her parents’ separation. By the end of the novel, Ava begins to mend the relationships with her family members, learns to take care of Mervin, and finds a new, better friend in Melissa.

An “Orca Currents” book, World’s Worst Parrot gives readers exactly what they expect: a quick read with a simple narrative, identifiable characters, and a chance of a happy ending.