Lynne Kelly, author of “The Secret Language of Birds,” is one of my favorite authors for a very simple reason: she writes about kids and animals. Her first book, “Chained,” is a wrenching story of a captive elephant and the boy who saves her. Then she penned “Song for a Whale,” about the loneliest whale in the world and the deaf girl who can’t seem to find her place in the world just as this misfit whale can’t communicate with other whales. It seems a natural progression to go from a jungle setting to an oceanic world and then to Texas, which Kelly calls home, to share the story of whooping cranes. Her inspiration came from a new article about a pair of whooping cranes just east of Houston who nested there, the first time whooping cranes had done so in over a century.

Whooping cranes were almost extinct, but after lots of hard work, their numbers have come back through careful tending of the flocks. The main character in this novel is Nina. We first meet her in “Song for a Whale,” where we see her aborted and embarrassing attempt at befriending Iris, the deaf main character in that novel. At the start of this book, Nina is feeling a bit lost. She doesn’t have any good friends, and she still dreams wistfully about befriending Iris, apologizing for what she did wrong when they attended school together, and how they might become best friends. At the start of the book, a bird gets Nina’s attention, and she becomes interested in those fascinating flying feathered friends.

Her older sister suggests that Nina go to her Aunt Audrey’s summer camp, where she could be outside and see lots of birds, and her parents agree. But Nina is worried about being at camp and not being with anyone she knows. Not having any friends. But the first night at camp, Nina gets included in a group of other new girls. And when the campers enact a yearly ritual, visiting the old infirmary on the edge of the marsh, Nina sees something strange.

Through Nina’s observations and research, she learns that the huge white birds she saw on the marsh that night are whooping cranes. But when she looks up information about them, she realizes that whooping cranes don’t live in Texas anymore. There are flocks in Louisiana, but not in Texas. Could she be mistaken about what she saw?

The story is about Nina’s passion for the birds and how she becomes attached to them emotionally. We also see how having friends, maybe for the first time, really helps Nina’s self esteem. And we see that Nina makes mistakes by not telling her Aunt Audrey what she is doing. What she and her friends are doing is using a trail camera to record the whooping crane activity. They do that by sneaking out at night to the abandoned infirmary without the knowledge of any adult or counselor. Nina also contacts the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, where there is a whooping crane program, and does not tell her aunt.

Children will enjoy this story about a main character who isn’t perfect, who makes mistakes, but who tries to do the right thing and really becomes invested in the whooping crane couple. I especially liked that through Kelly’s writing, we learn about Florence Mirriam, the first ornithologist who suggested that instead of shooting birds to learn about them, we take opera glasses, or binoculars, to study them in the wild, their home.

I highly recommend this novel for middle grade readers. It has a lot to offer young readers in terms of meeting a character who shows true growth over the course of the novel, and learning about bird watching and helping endangered species. The story of the recovery of the whooping crane is fascinating and uplifting, and Nina is a character with whom many readers will relate.

Please note: This review is based on the final, hardcover book provided by Delacorte Press, the publisher, for review purposes.