Horn Book

Aisulu knows her brother Serik is sick, and when he breaks his leg trying to capture a golden eagle (he wants to become a burkitshi, or eagle hunter), Aisulu is left behind in her uncles’ care to worry while their parents take Serik to the provincial capital for treatment. Rescuing the eagle chick orphaned as a result of Serik’s hunt helps distract Aisulu; she hopefully names the eagle Toktar, or “he lives.” When her parents finally return, their news is mixed—Serik will live, but his osteosarcoma diagnosis and resulting amputation mean he will need a prosthesis and expensive physical therapy in the capital city, Ulaanbaatar. Aisulu’s father plans to sell everything to pay for it—horses, yaks, and goats, even the family’s dwelling— but if he does, it will mean giving up forever the nomadic life Aisulu loves. One chance remains: if Aisulu can become a burkitshi herself and fly Toktar at the National Eagle Festival well enough to win, the prize money would be enough to help her brother and save her home. Details of day-to-day nomadic Kazakh life in Western Mongolia, with its subsistence-level animal husbandry, its rich cultural heritage of embroidery, its milk economy (“milk was life”), along with modern incorporations of solar panels and university education, are authentically woven throughout the narrative. Aisulu’s efforts to raise and train Toktar, and the bond that develops between them, recall classic nature drama in the vein of Jean Craighead George or Gary Paulsen. Aisulu’s struggles in a culture with strict gender roles and expectations, and the strong family support that helps her finally succeed, give this book all the heart and warmth any young reader could desire.