If you were charmed by The Curious Incident, laughed with Eleanor Oliphant and cried over A Man Called Ove, you will love Ricky Bird. No one loved making forts more than Ricky. A fort was a place of safety and possibility. It shut out the world and enclosed her and Ollie within any story she wanted to tell … Ricky Bird loves making up stories for her brother Ollie almost as much as she loves him. The imaginary worlds she creates are wild and whimsical places full of unlimited possibilities. Real life is another story. Ricky’s father has abandoned them and the family has moved to a bleak new neighbourhood. Worse still, her mother’s new boyfriend, Dan, has come with the furniture. But Ricky Bird is a force to be reckoned with. As the mastermind of so many outlandish adventures, her imagination is her best weapon. As her father used to say, if you can spin a good yarn you can get on in life. The trouble is that in the best stories characters sometimes take on a life of their own and no one, not even Ricky, is able to imagine the consequences. Beautifully written, heartbreakingly funny and deeply moving, this book has already been compared to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Lost and Found, Shuggie Bain, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and A Monster Calls. But Ricky’s story is all her own - and it will stay with you long after the last page. ‘Fierce and wonderful and utterly singular, Ricky embodies the sheer joy and transformative power of storytelling.’ Kate Mildenhall, author of The Mother Fault and Skylarking ‘A wise, tender but unflinching portrait of an ordinary family and the unordinary girl at its heart. Ricky - fragile, tough, endearing and funny - is a fabulous creation. She’ll walk around in my world all year, and more.’ Kristina Olsson, award-winning author of Shell and Boy, Lost Review: ‘A wise, tender but unflinching portrait of an ordinary family and the unordinary girl at its heart. Ricky - fragile, tough, endearing and funny - is a fabulous creation. She’ll walk around in my world all year, and more.’ - Kristina Olsson, award-winning author of Shell and Boy, Lost ‘Fierce and wonderful and utterly singular, Ricky embodies the sheer joy and transformative power of storytelling’ - Kate Mildenhall aEUROc The Mother Fault and Skylarking aEUROc ‘Connell has created a rich, complex, multi-layered character in Ricky Bird’ aEUROc The AU Review aEUROc ‘[Ricky’s] vivid narration buoys a novel through dark and desperate undercurrents … The Improbable Life of Ricky Bird has been compared to Curious Incident and Shuggie Bain, and it’s true that Diane Connell lends a unique voice to a child struggling to make sense of an adult world.’ aEUROc Sydney Morning Herald aEUROc ‘Heart-warming, life-affirming, happy and sad … I absolutely loved Ricky Bird and her witty, insouciant, funny, critical, quick and loving personality.’ - Cass Moriarty, author of The Promise Seed ‘Compared to best-selling titles like Elinor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Diane Connell’s The Improbable Life of Ricky Bird had a lot to live up to from the beginning. But it holds its own in a brand new lane. While Ricky Bird has a similarly unreliable narrator and is just as cleverly written, this book has the potential to take readers on an even more explosive rollercoaster of emotions …’ aEUROc Glam Adelaide aEUROc ‘Gritty and raw, tender and heartbreaking, this is a beautifully written tale of an ordinary family and the fierce girl at its heart who will stay with you long after the last page is turned and the last tear has dried.’ aEUROc Daily Telegraph aEUROc ‘A heart-churning, sob-inducing novel with equal shades of dark and light in the vein of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine; you will race through the pages, just itching to jump in and befriend (and protect) the most singular Ricky Bird.’ aEUROc Angela Bennetts, COAST Magazine aEUROc
