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UNDER THE SHADOW OF WINGS

Name: UNDER THE SHADOW OF WINGS
Author: Sara Harrell Banks
ISBN: 0-689-81207-8

by Sara Harrell Banks ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1997

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In 1944, the small, sleepy town of Pinella, Alabama, is swept by the winds of WW II. Tattnall, almost 12, her neighbor Bubba, and her developmentally disabled cousin, Obie, are enthralled by the Flying Tigers, the fighter planes they spy overhead. The Flying Tigers are a source of wonder for Tattnall and Obie and signify their imminent maturity. Obie's behavior becomes more erratic, and Tattnall, his protector, no longer believes she can handle him. Readers will empathize with Tattnall's guilt, protective responsibility, and helplessness. Miss Clarissa, Obie's mother, emerges as a three- dimensional character when she finally acknowledges Obie's behavior- -but it's too late. Obie has embarked on a path of wrecklessness that leads to a fatal case of pneumonia. Despite lyrical passages and an aching sense of place, the course of the novel wavers, e.g., Miss Clarissa finally admits that Tattnall has been good to Obie, and then a few pages later, chastises her for ``abandoning'' him. The metaphors of flight linked to Obie—Icarus, kites, the Flying Tigers—are invoked so often they lose power. In this quiet but atmospheric entry, the story's strengths are its subtle evocation of wartime Alabama and characters so real they seem to appear on a screen rather than in the pages of a book. (Fiction. 9-13)

Pub Date: May 1, 1997

ISBN: 0-689-81207-8

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1997

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ABRAHAM'S BATTLE
by Sara Harrell Banks

- BOOK REVIEW
A NET TO CATCH TIME
by Sara Harrell Banks & illustrated by Scott Cook

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RETURN TO SENDER

by Julia Alvarez ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 13, 2009

Though it lacks nuance, still a must-read.

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Tyler is the son of generations of Vermont dairy farmers.

Mari is the Mexican-born daughter of undocumented migrant laborers whose mother has vanished in a perilous border crossing. When Tyler’s father is disabled in an accident, the only way the family can afford to keep the farm is by hiring Mari’s family. As Tyler and Mari’s friendship grows, the normal tensions of middle-school boy-girl friendships are complicated by philosophical and political truths. Tyler wonders how he can be a patriot while his family breaks the law. Mari worries about her vanished mother and lives in fear that she will be separated from her American-born sisters if la migra comes. Unashamedly didactic, Alvarez’s novel effectively complicates simple equivalencies between what’s illegal and what’s wrong. Mari’s experience is harrowing, with implied atrocities and immigration raids, but equally full of good people doing the best they can. The two children find hope despite the unhappily realistic conclusions to their troubles, in a story which sees the best in humanity alongside grim realities.

Though it lacks nuance, still a must-read. (Fiction. 9-11)

Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2009

ISBN: 978-0-375-85838-3

Page Count: 240

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2008

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ALREADY A BUTTERFLY
by Julia Alvarez ; illustrated by Raúl Colón

- BOOK REVIEW
WHERE DO THEY GO?
by Julia Alvarez ; illustrated by Sabra Field

- BOOK REVIEW
HOW TÍA LOLA ENDED UP STARTING OVER
by Julia Alvarez

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THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL

From the School for Good and Evil series , Vol. 1

by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013

Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.

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Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.

Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).

Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)