It's the year 20-something—a changed yet still complacent America—and Lorraine Mulderon is mad. She's mad that dying fish litter the shores of her small Connecticut coastal town. She's mad birds seem to be dying, possibly indirectly related to fish deaths. She's still mad about a wave of crow deaths over a decade ago. But, mostly, Lorraine is mad at the lack of madness.

She makes speeches. She phones lazy, and now corrupt, legislators. She is ignored. What has happened to passion? What has happened to our country? To her daughter's consternation, Lorraine disappears during a protest march. Perhaps Lorraine's favorite birds—blue jays—can fill in these blanks.

Actually, a bird's eye view reveals certain truths too difficult for all of us immersed, anchored, and egocentric humans to understand. The blue jays know Lorraine's is a story about our country's greatest sin—the normalization of tragedy.