When Jamima, a young orphaned blue jay is brought to wildlife rehabilitatior, Julie Zickerfoose, she is a virtually tailless, palm sized bundle of grey blue fluff. But she is starved and very sick. Julie's constant care brings her around, and as Jemina is raised for eventual release, she takes over the house and the rest of the author's summer.
Shortly after release, Jemina turns up with a deadly disease. But medicating a free-flying wild bird is a challenge. When the PBS show Nature expresses interest in filming Jemina, Julie must train her to behave on camera, as the bird gets even wilder. Jemina bonds with a wild jay, stretching her ties with the family. Throughout, Julie grapples with the fallout of Jemina's illness, studies molt and migration and does her best to keep the bird strong and wild. She falls hard for this engaging, feisty, and funny jay, a creative muse and source of strength through the author's own heartbreaking changes.
Emotional and honest, Saving Jemina is a universal story of the communion between the wild creature and the human chosen to raise it.