Setting Free the Kites

January 2, 2017
George’s (A Good American) coming-of-age story set in Maine opens the summer of 1976, with Robert Carter anxious over the bullying that will surely resume with his return to middle school. This year, however, Nathan Tilly, a fearless new kid, steps in to protect Robert, and an important friendship begins. Tragedy and hardship visit both boys, and they rely on their bond as they face an otherwise lonely adolescence together. The settings in this touching story are frequently tinged with the magical quality of exploration—a seaside home north of Haverford “that edged into the dark waves of the Atlantic,” a windy beach cove “cut off at both ends by jagged promontories of rock” perfect for playing among the “columns of sun-bleached stones stacked one on top of another,” which Nathan’s mother crafted. The real treasure is the Arthurian-legend-themed amusement park Robert’s parents own and operate, where “teenage knights,” speaking in English accents, “clanked about in ill-fitting plastic armor and damsels swept up and down the pathways with bodices garlanded with ribbons.” While the dialogue is occasionally perfunctory or moralizing, George is masterly in his rendition of Maine landscapes and the emotional swings of adolescence. Throughout their mischievous hijinks the boys are always thoughtful and kind and their intentions are noble (even naïve), though serious danger is never far behind. Agent: Emma Sweeney, Emma Sweeney Agency.

In portraying characters with range of ages and personalities, narrator Ari Fliakos does a masterful job of narrating this moving audiobook. The coming-of-age story involves the friendship between Robert Carter, who is being bullied, and Nathan Tilly, the new kid in eighth grade who intervenes and subsequently gives Robert a new way to look at the world. Fliakos captures the personality of a young man who is learning much from the people in his life in the short time before he enters high school. There's sadness: Robert's brother is dying from a hereditary disease. And first love: Nathan seeks the attention of a girl at the amusement park where they both work. Fliakos succeeds in his narration of all the facets of the story. S.P.C. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine