Jasper

(From A Book Without Dragons)

Blue Jay

From afar, blue jays are beautiful to look at, but DO NOT mess with them! Seriously, have you ever been dive-bombed by a blue jay? It’s pretty scary. I could have picked a hawk or something for Jasper, but the blue jay fits better, because 90% of the time, Jasper is just a really chill guy. However, in the presence of a real threat, I absolutely wouldn’t want to get in his way.

Denise

(From The World That Forgot How to Dance)

Owl

No, not because she’s a smartypants. (Although she is.) I picked the owl for her because she is fascinated with the dark corners of the world. She’s extremely rebellious, but she’s also excellent at not attracting attention until she absolutely needs to. Like the owl, she knows how to properly hide herself, and she is willing to wait for the right moment.

Bethany

(From A Book Without Dragons)

Mourning Dove

For many years, there was a mourning dove pair that built their nest in a flowerpot on my front porch. They actually build nests early in the year, when it’s still cold. But no matter how cold it got, even when it was snowing, that mama bird never abandoned her eggs. For that reason, (even though I’m sure it’s true for all birds) I’ve come to associate mourning doves with parental love, which is also something I associate strongly with Bethany.

As a side note – I feel like I need to mention Zen, from Dove Without Wings, since he was literally named after the mourning dove. His full name is Zenaida Macrora Dove, which is the scientific name. Sorry, Zen. Didn’t mean to steal your bird.

[Zen – Um… okay? It’s fine.]

[Hannah (to the readers) – He secretly does care, just so you know.]

[Zen – Whatever.]

Samantha

(From The Waiting Room, and The Truth Behind Letters)

 Mockingbird

In The Waiting Room, Samantha has dozens of costumes / personas, but none of these people are actually ‘her.’ I figured a bird who can copy other bird’s songs would be a nice correlation to that. Also, in Letters, this aspect of her personality makes it difficult for her to find what she wants to say, since she’s so used to mimicking others.

Willow

(From A Book Without Dragons)

Duck

The thing I love about Willow is that he’s kind of awkward and bumbling, but it doesn’t really bother him. Ducks also have that derpy kind of charm. But occasionally, a duck will do something really cool and impressive – like when they fly in for that perfect landing on the water and I’m reminded that there’s more to them than waddling around and quacking.