It Takes a Flock

Every band needs at least one devoted groupie, and for the Birds of Wisdom it’s Fletcher, who became a fan after hearing them at the Town Square & Bandstand and now follows them whenever he can. He owns newsboy caps in every color and has been known to give one to the prettiest bird at the concert.

Ruby shares Sis’s belief that food is one of the best ways to show love, which is why she’s studying culinary arts at a top academy and spends her free time backstage or helping in Sis’s Kitchen. She also seems very committed to proving that theory on Fletcher, her favorite taste-tester.

Henri was practically born with a paintbrush in his wing, raised by two gifted artists and happiest experimenting with every kind of paint and paper he could find. The band now depends on his wonderfully messy creativity for stage sets, show graphics, and marketing materials.

Winston inherited a jazz studio as a teenager and slowly fell for the music through artists like Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, and Carmen McRae. Then Melody walked into Winston’s Jazz Nest and he fell for her too—though his jealous streak means their romance tends to be on again, off again.

Skip was a Navy bird until he wasn’t: he loved the sand and sea, but preferred admiring the horizon to spending his life on the water. His mother’s cooking lessons led to a talent for seafood—especially fish and chips—and after meeting Captain on a lighthouse trip, The Spinnaker was born.

Captain loves great sea adventures, from The Old Man and the Sea to Life of Pi, preferably with a plate of fish and chips beside him. When he met Skip, their shared love of the coast and good food made opening The Spinnaker together feel almost inevitable.

Cozy is happiest knitting, crocheting, people-watching, and daydreaming somewhere with a water view, which made The Spinnaker her perfect hangout. That’s where she met Garrison; they’ve been talking ever since, and while she isn’t ready to call it love, she admits he’s doing pretty well so far.

Dot couldn’t be more different from her best friend Cozy—she’d rather be out doing something than sitting around knitting—but somehow the two have perfected the art of compromise and usually end up laughing. She even tolerates Cozy’s handmade hats and scarves, and thinks Garrison is a total “dream boat.”

With a university librarian for a father and a legal librarian for a mother, Flora grew up surrounded by books and became proudly, spectacularly well-read. Running Wonderama Bookstore feels like her natural habitat; she’s read nearly everything there—except perhaps a few titles her sister Beatrice mysteriously keeps from her.

Beatrice spent her early years insisting she would absolutely not become a bookworm—until reading turned into a competition with her sister Flora. Beatrice hates to lose and may have a strategy or two up her sleeve, but the sisters make an excellent team running Wonderama Bookstore.

Violet is to Wonderama Bookstore what Fletcher is to the Birds: its most devoted regular, usually there several days a week and somehow always aware when a band member drops in. She loves mysteries and Greek mythology, which has led to especially lively book conversations with Buddy and Pelagia.

Marigold, Beatrice’s daughter, spends plenty of time at Wonderama but is often more interested in everyone else’s book choices than her own. Her favorite target is Wrylie, whose selections she cheerfully critiques whenever he visits—whether he asks for her recommendations or not.

Wry Junior’s son Wrylie joins the band on tour whenever school allows, collecting postcards along the way and especially admiring the lighthouse cards Garrison creates. Back home, he loves Wonderama Bookstore, although his browsing would be more peaceful if Marigold would stop commenting on his choices.

Barnaby is Wrylie’s best friend and, since he can’t join the band’s travels himself, he escapes through books about faraway places and adventures. When Wrylie comes home, Barnaby bombards him with questions and carefully tucks every postcard his friend sends into his favorite books.

Linus is one of Wrylie’s good friends and a devoted reader who spends most afternoons at the Little Library & Book Nook with his brother Arthur. The two hold ongoing reading contests: Arthur finishes more books, but Linus remembers almost everything he reads.

Arthur splits his free time between the Little Library & Book Nook and Hats of Wonder, where Dior enthusiastically supports his somewhat unconventional sense of style. He reads mostly about fashion, art, and music and has set himself an ambitious goal of four books a week.

Tams is the band’s Route Bird, the detail-master Moe depends on to make every tour stop run smoothly. Her only weakness is enthusiasm: she sometimes packs far too many sightseeing adventures into the schedule, then somehow rearranges everything into a plan that works.

Mosie met Moe in a souvenir shop, and their shared love of travel treasures quickly turned into companionship. Now she joins him on trips whenever she can—usually promising to shop while he works—and her souvenir collection is steadily gaining on his.

Scarlett, Mosie’s daughter, isn’t much of a traveler, but she loves the Birds and rarely misses a local show—partly because she has a serious crush on Jaco. Unfortunately, his Walkman and habit of disappearing after concerts have made him hard to impress, despite her attempts to recruit Mosie and Moe as matchmakers.

Rem runs The Wonder Motel, a favorite stop where the Birds can regroup before and after shows and still stay close to their favorite hangouts. Coming from a long line of hoteliers, he knows how to host: Sis’s cookies on the pillow, favorite wine at night, and good coffee with baklava in the morning.

Jeffra sells beautiful paper, which makes him very popular with Garrison for postcard art, Henri for band graphics, and just about everyone when he arrives with new color swatches. He’s also the flock’s unofficial tech wizard, always ready to help when some mysterious piece of technology misbehaves.

Coco works with Dior at Hats of Wonder and has become a talented designer in her own right, with her Western-style hats especially popular lately. She and Jeffra are also one of the town’s favorite couples—friendly with everyone, always at the best gatherings, and apparently very good at having fun.

Clementine supplies the flowers that brighten the Birds’ stages, the town’s gardens, and quite a few hats around the flock. She grows almost everything on her own property and trades with faraway friends for what she can’t, convinced that flowers are one of the simplest ways to make someone happy.

Poppy works part-time at Hats of Wonder and spends the rest of her time helping Henri or Clementine, because she can’t resist trying any creative pursuit at least once. Even when an experiment goes terribly wrong, Poppy finds a use for it—which explains some very unusual hats and flower arrangements.

Mathilda is Birdie’s exceedingly proud mother and rarely misses an opportunity to tell someone about her daughter’s latest performance, movie, or band appearance. She also saves her fortune-cookie fortunes, wrapping them in gold tissue with fancy bows to give Birdie on special occasions.

Georgia is Wry Junior’s proud mom, though she admits she expected her brilliant son to become a writer or astrophysicist rather than a keyboard player. She also adores Wrylie and still talks him into letting her read to him occasionally, even though he insists he’s too old.

Penelope is Jaco’s mom, and loving such a private bird isn’t always easy; she tries to respect his boundaries even when she’d love to know more. They keep a standing meal date on the 18th of each month, usually talking about her latest historical-fiction read and the connections she finds between past and present.