Hummingbird

Hummingbird is a 2022 middle-grade fiction novel by Natalie Lloyd that explores living with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI or “brittle bone disease”) using magical realism. Set in a Tennessee town with folkloric influences, Hummingbird follows 11-year-old Olive Martin as she pursues a legendary hummingbird said to grant a wish. Lloyd’s own experience with OI and life in Tennessee inform Olive’s story.

This study guide refers to the 2022 Scholastic hardcover edition.

Plot Summary

Hummingbird takes place in Wildwood, Tennessee. As Olive Martin’s family pull up to church on a Sunday morning in April, Olive’s Uncle Dash is overcome by “flutters”—unease over change. Eleven-year-old Olive, who uses a wheelchair due to osteogenesis imperfecta (a condition that makes her bones brittle and vulnerable to breakage), hopes Uncle Dash’s flutters mean her wish to attend Macklemore Middle School will come true. She has been homeschooled since kindergarten and longs to socialize with peers. Although her parents, Mama and Jupiter, support her endeavors, they fear a conventional school environment will put her at greater risk. When a churchgoer comments on Olive’s “fragility,” she becomes more determined to attend Macklemore. A storm of white feathers falls from the sky like snow, which she takes as a sign of change.

Later, Olive presents her case for attending Macklemore to Mama, Jupiter, Uncle Dash, Mama’s second husband Coach Malone, and Olive’s seemingly cold stepbrother Hatch Malone. Missing from the dinner table is Grandpa Goad, Olive’s grandfather and the most famous birder in Tennessee; he is currently away on a birding trip. Olive’s parents ultimately allow her to attend Macklemore. On her first day, her sixth-grade teacher Mr. Watson affirms her love of writing, and she meets a potential friend in self-proclaimed entrepreneur Grace Cho. The class is in an uproar over the falling white feathers, and Mr. Watson shares the legend behind the phenomenon: The feathers are a sign that the magical hummingbird, said to grant a wish, will appear at the rise of the blue moon in two weeks. 

The most popular girls in the grade mock Olive, leaving her feeling insecure and isolated. She regains her excitement when she learns about the school play based on the life of poet Emily Dickinson. She attends an informational meeting and feels drawn to the play’s characters. However, theater teacher Mrs. Matheson is unwilling to help Olive access the stage, despite Grace’s suggestion that they build a ramp. Olive wonders if she could change her life by asking the hummingbird to give her stronger bones. She and Grace join forces to find the hummingbird and investigate previous students who found it in 1963, identifying two out of the three: Luther Frye, supposedly the grumpiest man in town, and Nester Tuberose, proprietor of the Ragged Apple Cafe. Olive wonders why Grandpa Goad, who would have been around her age in 1963, has never told her about the hummingbird. She and Grace meet with Luther and Nester and learn more clues about locating the hummingbird.

Olive auditions for the school play and earns a speaking role. She learns Hatch has been tracking her progress with the hummingbird, and that his academic perfection is a façade: In reality, he is anxious and lonely. He has his own wish for the hummingbird—to be reunited with his dog, Biscuit, who ran away during a thunderstorm. Biscuit helped Hatch manage his anxiety, and he struggles without her. Olive, Grace, and Hatch search for the hummingbird together, but Olive breaks her thigh bone five days before the play and the blue moon. She grapples with the loss of her dreams but is bolstered by her friends’ support. 

Grandpa Goad returns from his birding trip and helps Olive regain hope. Like her, he has OI but continues to pursue his dreams. He reveals he was the third person to find the hummingbird in 1963. At first, Grandpa Goad wanted to ask the hummingbird for fame but realized what he truly wanted was a friend—a wish that led him to his future wife. He reassures Olive that she will find her wings and thrive. 

On the night of the school play and the blue moon, Olive’s family attends the play while Hatch and Grace hunt for the hummingbird. Olive is forced to play Emily Dickinson when the actor falls ill and stuns the audience with her performance. As the cast takes their final bows, she realizes that though her bones are fragile, she is not. The hummingbird appears to her at this moment, and she wishes for Hatch to be reunited with Biscuit. Hatch and Grace catch up with Olive after the play. Grace did not find the hummingbird, but Hatch did—and he wished Olive would get a chance to perform. Hatch and Biscuit reunite, and the friends celebrate. Olive ends the novel feeling content with her body.