Pam McGaffin is a writer whose work has been published in literary journals, newspapers, and on websites. Her first novel, The Leaving Year, (SparkPress, 2018), won three finalist teen fiction awards and took first place in the 2018 Best Book Awards for young adult fiction. A proud bird nerd, she lives in Seattle, WA, with her husband, Mark, and rescue dog, Mars. On their daily walks, they are greeted by many crow friends.

For fans of Laline Paull, a speculative young adult novel about a family of New York City crows struggling to survive the outbreak of West Nile virus during the sizzling summer of 1999.

Four-year-old Duncan needs to hurry up and find a mate—or so says his sister, Cloud. But she doesn’t know about the mistake that’s preventing him from leaving their family to start another.

Though he’s the eldest, Duncan doesn’t see himself as a leader. Yet that’s what he must become when both his parents die of the mysterious illness that’s killing crows across New York City. He devotes himself to caring for his siblings, including three fledglings—but he soon discovers he can’t protect them from the “blind death.”

Meanwhile, a zoo pathologist’s worst fears are realized. It starts with dead flamingos. Then critically ill New Yorkers start showing up in hospital emergency rooms.

Some blame the crows.