|
The Wing and the Flame An Author's Guild Back-in-Print Book originally published by Bradbury Press and Bantam Books |
|
|
That summer there were secret worlds waiting to be discovered... It was the summer Eric met Owen Cassell, the old sculptor on Stoneface Mountain, who taught him to appreciate art, nature and his own life. It was the summer Eric and his best friend Chris had trouble understanding their attraction to one another. A moving novel about a young man's growing awareness of friendship and love... "Memories of a summer five years before prompt Eric Nicholson to pay a long-overdue visit to the aging sculptor Owen Cassell, who lives on remote Stoneface Mountain. As Eric searches for the man on the snow-covered mountainside, he reconstructs the evolution of their unusual friendship (begun because of his resemblance to Owen's dead son), which brought with it a growing awareness of the peace and majesty of Stoneface and the understanding of the life-spirit that protects it...Hanlon's drafting is subtle, her recreation of the teasing banter (between Eric and his other friend, Chris) is realistic and her juxtaposition of Eric's friendship with Chris with that of Eric and Owen is well handled and realized with depth and sensitivity. A quick, gentle step across the boundary between fantasy and fiction."
— Booklist
"Eric befriends an aged recluse sculptor, Owen. Eric reminds Owen of his son who was tragically killed and inspires Owen to sculpt again. Eric's father mistrusts Owen' motives at first; ironically, Eric has a homosexual experience with his best friend, Chris, in the cave on Stoneface Mountain. The Wing and the Flame is an excellent exploration of friendship between a young adult and an older person, as well as an excellent treatment of the questions that concern young people about homosexuality. This novel is similar to The Man Without a Face by Isabelle Holland but better because this examines in more depth the confused feelings young people have. An excellent story of friendships and is definitely a YASA Best Books Candidate."
— Voice of Youth Advocates
"This is a mysterious and haunting book which deals mainly with the powerful feelings of love as experienced by a 14 year old boy... sensitively crafted with enough mystery and supernatural overtones to keep the reader turning the pages and finally bringing him to satisfaction." — Newton Free Library Book Review |
|
