I had heard marvelous things about this book, so I was very excited to read it. I love WWII literature, and I am hoping to make reading an additional novel from this period a requirement while my kiddos read "The Book Thief" this upcoming year. 
 Part of the reason I love WWII lit is because each book gives me more insight into this complicated period, and this is true with "Anna and the Swallow Man." However, I wasn't quite able to figure out what it was. The storytelling style is inventive and the metaphors are apt, but I think it occasionally impeded the reader's ability to relate to the characters. 
 All of this would have been okay if all of the questions that I had been developing throughout reading this book were answered at the end. But they weren't. (view spoiler)[ Like, who was the Swallow Man anyway? Why was he on the run? What was his job? How could he talk to birds? Where was Anna going in that boat? (It was slightly reminiscent of Gendry on GoT-tv show). (hide spoiler)]. 
 I was also confused by what the target demographic is for this book. I believe it is YA based on the length and the whimsical cover, but at times it seemed far to cerebral for my 8th graders to understand what was going on. Plus, there are multiple allusions to rape, and while I am totally cool discussing how that is one of the ways that people exert power over women, this was done in a peculiar way that would leave me uncomfortable. 
 Good book, but not exactly what I expected.