Sy Montgomery

From The Observatory
Sy Montgomery is a naturalist, documentary scriptwriter, and author of 31 books of nonfiction for adults and children. She is the recipient of lifetime achievement awards from the Humane Society and the New England Booksellers Association.
Latest by this author
Sy Montgomery is a naturalist, documentary scriptwriter, and author of 31 books of nonfiction for adults and children, including Hummingbirds’ Gift, the National Book Award finalist The Soul of an Octopus, and the New York Times bestselling memoir The Good Good Pig. She is the recipient of lifetime achievement awards from the Humane Society and the New England Booksellers Association.
Publications by this author
HarperCollins | September | 2023
With elegance, journalistic curiosity, and gorgeous artwork, this nonfiction narrative relates the dramas and insights gleaned from working in a hospital with injured, sick, and abandoned turtles—and, at the same time, investigates the mystery of time itself. (Who better than these long-lived, ancient reptiles to help probe what philosophy considers, along with consciousness, the “hard problem” of time?) Lived during the pandemic, when life for many seemed stalled and broken, the stories of courage and patience in these pages testify to the power we all have to mend our shattered world.
Atria Books | May | 2022
When Sy Montgomery went to spend the day at falconer Nancy Cowan’s farm, home to a dozen magnificent birds of prey, it was the start of a deep love affair. Nancy allowed her to work with Jazz, a feisty, four-year-old Harris hawk with a wingspan of more than four feet. Not a pet, Jazz was a fierce predator who could pierce skin and bone, and yet she willing to work with a human to hunt. From the moment Jazz flew down from a tree and landed on Sy’s leather-gloved fist, Sy fell under the hawk’s magnetic spell. Over the next few years, Sy spent more time with these magnificent creatures, getting to know their extraordinary abilities and instincts. Sy passionately and vividly reveals the wondrous world of hawks and what they can teach us about nature, life and life.
Atria Books | May | 2021
Baby hummingbirds: nothing could be cuter, more delicate, or more vulnerable. They hatch from eggs the size of Navy beans and are born the size of bumblebees. This is the true story of how the author, assisting her friend, hummingbird rehabilitator Brenda Sherburne La Belle, helped to rescue and raise two orphaned baby hummingbirds, eventually releasing these most magical of all fliers in time to fly to Mexico.
Events with this author