Growing Wings

Rating:
Summary: This book is the best!!
Review: "Wings. Forming beneath her skin. Unfolding. Emerging...The new, downy feathers were reddish brown, like the hair on her head..." writes Laurel Winter in her book Growing Wings. This is one of many intriguing passages in the book.
Growing Wings is a book about an eleven-year old girl who one day mysteriously begins to grow wings. She tries hiding them, but they become very large and uncomfortable to keep folded up all the time. She and her mother, who, at fifteen, also started to grow wings, finally flee from society. One night, Linnet's mother abandons her in a motel! What will Linnet do? Will she show her wings to society? Will she amputate them, like her grandmother did to her mother?
This is a book that is meant for all ages, a book that takes the reader as far into his or her own imagination as they will let it. This book is filled with symbolism, and it is suspenseful, thought provoking, and remarkably well-written. Each sentence takes you deeper and deeper into the story of this girl and resounds over and over again in your mind. Each sentence seems to have its own hidden message.
One particular aspect I really liked about this book is that each chapter begins with a quote from another source. They set this book apart from a lot of other books. For example, one chapter begins, "Even the most winged spirit cannot escape physical necessity' -Kahlil Gibran, Sand and Foam". The quotes foreshadow or relate to what will happen in the story and give the reader something to think about while reading the rest of the book. They really get you to scrutinize the story for its relation to the quote. Also, they help the reader discover hidden symbolism in the book and give us a clearer picture of the author's message.
The ending leaves the reader hanging, and calls for a sequel. Some readers may find this interesting and may have fun thinking of what will happen next to Linnet. Other readers may find this annoying. I found it to be great strategy by Laurel Winter to keep the book on the reader's mind long after it is finished.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a really good story with great writing that you will think about and compare to reality time and time again.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting story-line
Review: Currently reading this one and it's a very good young adult fantasy about an eleven year old girl whose world is turned upside down when she starts growing wings. Before long she finds herself abandoned by her mother, where she eventually locates her grandmother who she doesn't know at all. Grandma dumps her off at a sanctuary where Linnett finds there are others just like herself who live sheltered from the media and others who would exploit their kind.

As Linnett learns to adjust to her new surroundings and attempts to fit in with the assorted group of winged and "cutwings" she realizes that being safe and sheltered is also a bit stifling when one wants nothing more than to fly free.

This was a short, intriguing little read whose ending left me wanting more. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that this author has written much of anything since this book was published in 2002 and according to the Firebirdbook website she's not on the line up for 2005 :(

Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: Do you judge people without getting to know them? Do you think that if someone looks different than you they are weird? Laurel Winters addresses this question in her book Growing Wings. This book teaches the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover." A girl named after a bird, Linnet, starts to have some strange feelings when she's eleven. Her shoulder blades were itching like crazy and she would frequently scratch them until they bleed. She wonders if anything's wrong with her and gets worried because her mom is acting strange. Then one night Linnet asks her mom the question that has been on her mind. Much to her surprise her mom's answer is, "Wings-your growing wings." Linnet's mom, Sarah, also said that she once had wings but is now a "cut wing" because Linnet's crazy grandmother bonded and cut's Sarah's wings when she was young. Linnet goes through the rest of the school year hiding her wings with her long hair and a baggy shirt. Then the day after school let out her mom takes Linnet on a road trip and they stop and cheep motels and Linnet get an extra large sweatshirt that claimed Minnesota's state bird is a mosquito. When she jokes and says, "I could be a state bird" her mother doesn't laugh. Then one day she appeared to have duped Linnet in a motel and Linnet is left to her self and doesn't know what to. But with her quick thinking she looks up her grandmother, Margret, in the phone book. She is really scared to go but knows she has to. Her grandmother takes Linnet to this house in the middle of nowhere where other winged people and cutwings live. She stays there for a while, try's to fly, escapes from nosy reporters, and learn more about her kind. After all her research, she finally knew there were more people with wings. Linnet also makes a friend who she goes off at the end of the book with, supervised Linnet's grandmother. They go to see the world and to revel their secret. Linnets mother stays at the house where Linnet spent so much time and helped all of the winged people out. This book teaches a great lesson and is very exciting. Laurel Winter did a great job. I just wish that she would write a sequel.

Rating:
Summary: Do YOU judge people?
Review: Do you judge people without getting to know them? Do you think that if someone looks different than you they are weird? Laurel Winters addresses this question in her book Growing Wings. This book teaches the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover." A girl named after a bird, Linnet, starts to have some strange feelings when she's eleven. Her shoulder blades were itching like crazy and she would frequently scratch them until they bleed. She wonders if anything's wrong with her and gets worried because her mom is acting strange. Then one night Linnet asks her mom the question that has been on her mind. Much to her surprise her mom's answer is, "Wings-your growing wings." Linnet's mom, Sarah, also said that she once had wings but is now a "cut wing" because Linnet's crazy grandmother bonded and cut's Sarah's wings when she was young. Linnet goes through the rest of the school year hiding her wings with her long hair and a baggy shirt. Then the day after school let out her mom takes Linnet on a road trip and they stop and cheep motels and Linnet get an extra large sweatshirt that claimed Minnesota's state bird is a mosquito. When she jokes and says, "I could be a state bird" her mother doesn't laugh. Then one day she appeared to have duped Linnet in a motel and Linnet is left to her self and doesn't know what to. But with her quick thinking she looks up her grandmother, Margret, in the phone book. She is really scared to go but knows she has to. Her grandmother takes Linnet to this house in the middle of nowhere where other winged people and cutwings live. She stays there for a while, try's to fly, escapes from nosy reporters, and learn more about her kind. After all her research, she finally knew there were more people with wings. Linnet also makes a friend who she goes off at the end of the book with, supervised Linnet's grandmother. They go to see the world and to revel their secret. Linnets mother stays at the house where Linnet spent so much time and helped all of the winged people out. This book teaches a great lesson and is very exciting. Laurel Winter did a great job. I just wish that she would write a sequel.

Rating:
Summary: Sucks
Review: Growing Wings is a compelling story of growth....blah blah blah. Poor Linnet, she has wings and it's so hard to fit in with wings! Notwithstanding that she HAS beautiful wings and is lucky to have wings...the author's message is that people need to be brave with their differences, yak yak yak...doesn't anybody realize that not a single person on Earth WOULDN'T want wings? Oh poor Linnet, she has wings! How awful! Give me a break. All these people who think that Growing Wings is the most beautiful, powerful book they have ever read really need to get a life and read something else.

Rating:
Summary: bad words...great words...and a little drama...
Review: Growing wings, is one of my favorite books ever! It has drama, good words to use, and bad words. But I think because of the bad words, that makes this book a four star rating. But the way it's written; it's so beautiful and sad. And it makes me feel sad, scared, and I feel beauty in myself. It seems like it could happen, and I just love it! It also seems like Laurel Winter went [way] out there. I thought that Linnet was so scared that she was going to get her wings cut off like her mother did. But I would recemend this book for everyone who loves learning and who loves and considers people in the world even if they're different.

Rating:
Summary: it's i good book but...
Review: It's an okay book, except there are things that are really irritating, first off, it's like, "Oh poor Linnet is growing wings, she's different everyone shun her boo hoo!" She has to come to terms with her wings, blah blah. The author is saying, "It might be hard, but you have to come to terms with your differences and soar like an eagle." I mean, who on earth WOULDN'T want big beautiful feathered wings????? Linnet is growing gorgeous wings, how horrible? Let's make her a poor little nice protagonist with such awful problems! Did I mention she doesn't have to go to P.E. class? Man, what a perfect life! She has wings, auburn hair, and she doesn't have to go to P.E. And she has problems???

Rating:
Summary: I hope Laurel Winter writes a sequel!
Review: Laurel Winter uses a young girl who suddenly grows wings as a metaphor for finding one's individuality. This makes the tale appealing even for those who aren't quite as fascinated by how she and other children are portrayed as having wings, which is what made me pick up this book.

Winter uses simple and straightforward writing to create a book that doesn't patronize children -- a trap that many such writers fall into, though few intend -- and which will stretch their minds. The chapter headings alone are half of such spice in the book. Adults will remember the better parts of their pre-adolescence, when they, too, were starting to grow their mental wings.

I'd have preferred to give this 4.5 stars, with the only deduction being for its being much too short, once Winter has outlined this intriguing and diverse flock of winged characters. (As well as older women who have some profound changes of heart.) I look forward to a sequel, where the young protagonist fully enters adolescence.