The Importance of Wings

by Robin Friedman

Overview

In 1980s New York, eighth-grader Roxanne misses her mother and struggles with her Israeli-American identity and her father's long hours.

Roxanne (Ravit) Ben-Ari is an Israeli immigrant girl looking to fit in. An evangelist for TV reruns like Wonder Woman, The Brady Bunch, and Little House on the Prairie.  Roxanne is desperate to emulate all-American TV girls.

But things change when Liat moves in nearby, and Liat's self-confidence enables Roxanne to embrace her own unique identity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580893312
Publisher:	Charlesbridge
Publication date:	09/05/2017
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Robin Friedman has worked as a children's book editor, freelance writer, and advertising copywriter. She is currently a newspaper editor in New Jersey, where she lives with her husband, Joel, and their cats, Peppercorn and Peaches. Robin is the author of NOTHING, THE GIRLFRIEND PROJECT, THE SILENT WITNESS, and HOW I SURVIVED MY SUMMER VACATION.

Visit her at www.robinfriedman.com.

Read an Excerpt

It’s called the Cursed House because something terrible always happens to anyone who lives there.
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Importance of Wings"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Robin Friedman.
Excerpted by permission of Charlesbridge.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

Roxanne (Ravit) Ben-Ari is an Israeli-American girl growing up in 1980s New York City. Family life is less than idyllic, with her mother away in Israel and her father working late into the night as a cab driver. The long afterschool hours are spent watching favorite television reruns, eating sporadically from a nearly empty refrigerator and managing to get by with homework assignments. Roxanne aches for her mother's safe return and longs to fit in with her all-American schoolmates, the very reason she changes her Hebrew name. When Liat, a new Israeli girl moves into the empty "cursed" house on the block, Roxanne's attitude on life and her family circumstances is transformed. Liat's Israeli pride brings a fresh perspective that encourages a new confidence in Roxanne, who can then identify with and appreciate her family and dual cultural lifestyle. Told in a first-person voice that is both sardonic and sincere, Friedman's novel succeeds in bringing forth some common issues that challenge any immigrant American child who must straddle separate ways of life while striving for that true-blue American image.

—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

Gr 5-8–When Roxanne’s 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 father’s clothes, thick accent, wildly decorated car, or outrageous girlfriend. The fact that Liat’s house does turn out to be cursed–a mysterious house fire forces the family to return to Israel–seems a bit far-fetched, but it does add drama to the story. Roxanne’s fixation with television quickly becomes tiresome, and today’s 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 one’s own wings.–Rachel Kamin, North Suburban Synagogue Beth El, Highland Park, IL

School Library Journal

Roxanne (Ravit) Ben-Ari is an Israeli-American girl growing up in 1980s New York City. Family life is less than idyllic, with her mother away in Israel and her father working late into the night as a cab driver. The long afterschool hours are spent watching favorite television reruns, eating sporadically from a nearly empty refrigerator and managing to get by with homework assignments. Roxanne aches for her mother's safe return and longs to fit in with her all-American schoolmates, the very reason she changes her Hebrew name. When Liat, a new Israeli girl, moves into the empty "cursed" house on the block, Roxanne's attitude on life and her family circumstances is transformed. Liat's Israeli pride brings a fresh perspective that encourages a new confidence in Roxanne, who can then identify with and appreciate her family and dual cultural lifestyle. Told in a first-person voice that is both sardonic and sincere, Friedman's novel succeeds in bringing forth some common issues that challenge any immigrant American child who must straddle separate ways of life while striving for that true-blue American image. (Historical fiction. 10-13)

Kirkus Reviews