Bill Barnes

Born to Soar Bill Barnes

Born to Soar is an illustrated young adult fantasy about a vulture that gets raised by a gang of wild turkeys. The story begins one moonlit night as Odna the opossum is out foraging for food. Along for the ride are the six young joeys that are latched onto the coarse hair on her back. Luck, at first, appears to be on Odna's side as she happens upon a freshly laid nest of vulture eggs resting unattended on the ground near the opening of a cave. Unfortunately, an egg gets bumped thanks to one of her clumsy little joeys, which causes it to start on a slow downhill roll. Odna instinctively gives chase, but is soon stopped in her tracks when confronted by Mister Tom Turkey who suddenly appears out of nowhere to protect his mate's freshly laid clutch of wild turkey eggs from this would be predator. Thanks to Mister Tom, the vulture egg eludes Odna and ends up safely coming to rest in the middle of the clutch of eggs Mister Tom was protecting. From then on, it's one exciting episode after another as readers get to experience what it might be like for a vulture to get raised by a gang of wild turkeys. From his earliest moments as an egg to his blossoming as a mature Virgil the vulture...the youngest vulture elder ever...life is a challenge, but this bird is born to soar and that's exactly what he does as he learns about everything from murder & mayhem to the differences between a prefrontal cortex and a cerebral vortex, not to mention "mindspeak," Star Biomes, Möbius Strips, telepathic time travel, human beings, reality TV, roadkill, thud meat and a whole lot more.