Taking Flight

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Taking Flight

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Overview

‘Beyond the fence everything is dark, but in here is our own lit-up world. Just me and Flight. Our breath snakes into the night like the aftermath of a firework.’ The only riding fifteen-year-old Declan has ever done is joyriding. When he’s forced to stay with his snobby cousin ‘Princess’ Vicky on the other side of Belfast, he’s shocked to find himself falling in love with horses. Vicky would do anything to keep Declan out of her already perfect life and away from her precious showjumper, Flight, no matter who gets hurt… Moving from a harsh Belfast housing estate to the glamour of the showjumping ring, Taking Flight is a fast-paced story full of conflict, jealousy and courage.

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Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781908195647
Publisher:	Little Island Books
Publication date:	09/01/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	660 KB
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Sheena Wilkinson's first novel, Taking Flight, was Children’s Books Ireland's Editor's Choice for 14+ in their Bookfest Recommended Reads 2010, one of The Irish Times' Children’s Books of the Year 2011, and won two Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Awards: the Children’s Choice Award and the Honour Award for Fiction. It was shortlisted for the Reading Association of Ireland awards, featured in the International Youth Library's White Ravens catalogue and features on the 2012 IBBY Honour List. Sheena was one of the inaugural recipients of the Northern Ireland Arts Council’s Artists Career Enhancement Scheme awards. Since winning the Brian Moore Award in 2006 with her very first story, Sheena Wilkinson has won many awards for short fiction, including the Riptide International Award for young adult fiction. Her story 'Constance' came third in the Fish International Short Story Prize, chosen by author David Mitchell. Grounded, the sequel to Taking Flight, was published in 2012.

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Editorial Reviews

"Although horse stories are most often targeted to a female audience, this one has strong appeal for boys, including reluctant readers. Declan is a guy's guy: stoic, plain in his tastes, and monosyllabic in conversation. But through his first—person narration, it becomes evident that there is a perceptive, caring, and vulnerable young man buried deep within that hard exterior."
— VOYA Magazine
"American readers will easily understand the meaning of the Irish slang within the context of the story and dialogue. Both narrators experience a bit of a romance, appropriate for even young teens. […] Recommended for general purchase, this title should appeal to fans of horse stories."
—School Library Journal
"Taking Flight is a complex novel with a large cast of characters, each exquisitely well-developed, including the adults. . . Declan is an especially fascinating character who struggles to care for his alcoholic mother while trying to attend school and pretending to the outside world that everything is okay. . . A fast-paced story sure to appeal to teen readers."
Highly Recommended."
— CM Magazine

From the Publisher

A pair of teens living contrasting lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland, narrate alternating chapters of this compelling and remarkably assured debut novel. Declan resides with his unemployed, alcoholic, single mother in a working class neighborhood, where he has been drifting through a bleak existence with few prospects or expectations. Meanwhile, his cousin Vicky lives just a few miles away with her divorced mom, but theirs is a prosperous household, with Vicky’s remarried father buying her a horse and underwriting her show jumping lessons. The two narrators are set on a collision course when Vicky’s mother, Colette, is called upon to take in Declan, her nephew, while his mother dries out at a rehab facility. When the mismatched pair of teens are forced together, nerves are rubbed raw, tempers flare, and hurt feelings are the least of the damage that ensues. But out of the chaos and conflict, Vicky begins to appreciate that she had been taking her privileged life for granted; while Declan discovers in himself an unexpected, and potentially transformative, aptitude for working with horses. Although horse stories are most often targeted to a female audience, this one has strong appeal for boys, including reluctant readers. Declan is a guy’s guy: stoic, plain in his tastes, and monosyllabic in conversation. But through his first-person narration, it becomes evident that there is a perceptive, caring, and vulnerable young man buried deep within that hard exterior. Declan’s story is continued in a sequel, Grounded, which has already been published in Great Britain and is forthcoming in North America. Reviewer: Walter Hogan; Ages 11 to 18.

VOYA, August 2015 (Vol. 38, No. 3) - Walter Hogan

07/01/2015
Gr 7 Up—Two cousins, Declan and Vicky, who are from opposite socioeconomic sides of town, narrate this story that centers on horses and show-jumping in present-day Ireland. Declan's mother is put into rehab, and he is forced to live with his aunt and prissy cousin Vicky, who owns a show horse named Flight. As part of a work experience program, Declan volunteers at the stables, and though he has never had much contact with animals, he is changed by his proximity to the horses, especially Flight. As tragedy occurs and both cousins are to blame, Declan withdraws back into the tough street youth he once was. Both voices are believable as teens and are well drawn and layered. Vicky is spoiled and a little bratty, but depictions of her divorced parents and upper-class lifestyle provide an explanation for her behavior. Declan rebels in classic "fight and flight" ways, but he narrates his reasons and his feelings in a way that will feel relatable. American readers will easily understand the meaning of the Irish slang within the context of the story and dialogue. Both narrators experience a bit of a romance, appropriate for even young teens. VERDICT Recommended for general purchase, this title should appeal to fans of horse stories.—Heather Massa, East Rockaway Public Library, NY

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