Airs Beneath the Moon

December 15, 2006
Larkyn Hamley, a 14-year-old farm girl with a special affinity for animals, finds a lost, starving, pregnant mare and cares for her. The mare dies giving birth to a colt that, much to Lark's surprise, has wings. She lovingly cares for him, and he bonds with her. A bond with a winged horse is for life, and when Horsemistress Philippa Winter arrives for the colt, she realizes she must take Lark, too, to the Academy of the Air, which trains winged foals and their riders-to-be. There Lark faces snobbery and hostility on the part of young women of noble birth, and she runs afoul of the devious plans of the power-hungry, sadistic eldest son of the dying duke, owner and protector of the birth lines of the winged horses. Bishop enables us to visualize the horses in solo flight and complicated formations, scenes at the academy are utterly real, and the characters have dimension. In short, this is a thoroughly satisfying read, fortunately with enough loose ends to justify a sequel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)