The Importance of Wings

July 1, 2009
Gr 5-8-When Roxannes mother returns to Israel to care for an ailing relative, the 13-year-old and her younger sister are left to fend for themselves. They eat cold cereal and canned mushrooms for dinner every night or buy hotdogs from the neighbors, and spend their afternoons and evenings watching television while their father works late nights as a cab driver in Manhattan. But when Liat moves into the cursed house next door, Roxanne slowly discovers that her obsession to become all-American might not be as important as she once thought. Confident and unconcerned with what others think, Liat is proud to retain her Israeli name (Roxanne has changed hers from Ravit) and is not embarrassed by her fathers clothes, thick accent, wildly decorated car, or outrageous girlfriend. The fact that Liats house does turn out to be curseda mysterious house fire forces the family to return to Israelseems a bit far-fetched, but it does add drama to the story. Roxannes fixation with television quickly becomes tiresome, and todays readers might not relate to all of the aspects of 1980s culture sprinkled throughout the narrative, such as the coveted winged hairstyle. Despite these weaknesses, this is a readable coming-of-age story that captures many universal aspects of the contemporary immigrant experience coupled with middle school angst, first crushes, and the importance of finding ones own wings."Rachel Kamin, North Suburban Synagogue Beth El, Highland Park, IL"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2009
Grades 7-9 Eighth-grader Roxanne misses her mother, who has gone home to Israel for several months to care for a relative. Its the early 1980s, in Staten Island, and Roxannes other big concern is her familys lack of thorough-going Americanness; being Israeli, she has decided, is a problem. She and her nine-year-old sister live on a diet of television, cold cereal, and waiting for their father to return late each night from driving his cab. Then Liat, a girlRoxannes age, moves in next door and challenges the sisters to explore the possibilities around them and accept their identity as Israeli-Americans. The denouement, in which Liats father packs her up for another move, this time back to Israel, feels rushed. But Friedman does an exquisite job in bringing the two older girls to life and showing how each has responded to her familys upheavals and current circumstances. Minor characters are also compelling and, for the most part, endearing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)