Ming-Li looked up and tried to imagine the sky silent, empty of birds. It was a terrible thought. Her country's leader had called sparrows the enemy of the farmers--they were eating too much grain. He announced a great "Sparrow War" to banish them from China.

But Ming-Li did not want to chase the birds away. As the people of her village gathered with firecrackers and gongs to scatter the sparrows, she held her ears and watched in dismay. Ming-Li knew she had to do something.

Quietly, she vowed to save as many sparrows as she could, one by one...