Saskatoon-based author Alice Kuipers’s latest novel for middle-grade readers is World’s Worst Parrot, which follows Ava, a teen who strives for the impression of perfection, and Mervin, an African grey parrot she inherited, as both of their lives go through major changes.
Parrots are complicated and intelligent animals, as Kuipers learned from a green-cheeked conure. “Years ago,” she says, “I owned a really sweet little parrot called Fernando. I learned a lot about how to train parrots and how complicated they are as companion animals from him.”
- World’s Worst Parrot
- Alice Kuipers
- Orca Book Publishers
- $9.95 Paperback, 128 pages
- ISBN: 978-14-59823-75-4
Kuipers gained specific knowledge of African grey parrots by attending meetings of the Saskatoon Pet Bird Society, where a member had one such bird.
She says that type of bird fit perfectly into this story. “African greys are the best linguists, and I needed a bird that could talk well for this story, and I needed a bird that was quite big so he could fill up lots of space in Ava’s life!”
In creating the character Melinda, who teaches Ava how to care for Mervin, Kuipers was inspired by members of the Saskatoon Pet Bird Society. “It’s actually quite hard looking after a parrot,” she says, “and they gave me lots of advice about how to keep a parrot happy and well looked after.”
In the age of social media, the pressure to appear to have the perfect life can be overwhelming. This novel opens with Ava creating a social media post with the perfect lighting and the perfect caption about just finishing a workout and her plans for the day – all of which are a lie. Ava’s parents are going through a divorce, and the reaction of her mother hasn’t made anything easy.
Kuipers says, “It’s hard for Ava when she sees other people online living amazing lives. She wants to present that her life is perfect, too, although it’s not.”
Kuipers believes that social media and its pressures are a big part of life for many people now. “How do we make ourselves real online when that means facing reality?” she says. “I think that’s an interesting question, and one Ava has to answer in the book.”
Mervin really throws a curveball into Ava and her family’s life, and he challenges some of Ava’s values that need re-examining.
“The idea of a difficult and ungainly parrot being thrown into Ava’s mix felt like a ‘perfect’ way to make her story come to life,” says Kuipers. Her “perfect” friends don’t support her the way she needs, her family doesn’t spend time together, and her social media presence is largely a lie – Mervin was the solution.
Ava strives for social media stardom, and Kuipers loved the prospect of getting her there in an unexpected way. “I thought it would be fun and challenging to put her in a situation where people were interested in her on social media, but not for the reasons she wants. What does a character do then? Do they change their ambition? Or do they embrace the way life is taking them? Ava has to decide.”
