8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
The End of Childhood,
February 4, 2011 This review is from: Wingshooters (Paperback)
Nina Revoyr writes of our modern society through the close examination of families. These families are often bi-racial, exposing the underlying tension in schools and towns when a "foreigner" arrives.
Her new novel, "Wingshooters" takes place in the small Wisconsin town of Deerhorn. A white husband and his Japanese wife bring their little girl, Michelle, to meet her white grandparents. Her grandfather, Charlie, falls in love with the woebegone child; her grandmother doesn't quite know what to say or do except feed people. Michelle stays on with her grandparents. She is mocked at school, bullied by other children and teachers, simply because she is new to them, someone who doesn't look like them.
Michelle yearns for her father, supposedly off looking for her mother, who has left them. She loves to spend time in the woods with her grandpa, learning about the fish and the trees, the natural beauty. Above all, she loves her grandfather's hunting dog, Brett. And like any much-loved dog, he loves her back with his entire dog heart.
Things move along quietly as Michelle observes the townspeople, the way the men interact at the coffee shop, the way the women are not approachable even at church.
Then, a black couple, both highly educated, attractive, good people come to Deerhorn. The wife is a nurse, who helps in the expanding clinic. The husband is to sub at Michelle's school. Both Mr. and Mrs. Garrett comport themselves with dignity, doing their jobs and trying to live within the constraints of this small town. Michelle is shocked at the venom in her Grandfather Charlie's voice as he talks about people's "place" in society.
The storm of distrust and hatred builds to a boiling point. Michelle observes tragedy beyond her ability to fathom the depths of evil in the human soul.
With Michelle, we look again at an America "of the people" that some interpret as "except THOSE people."
Revoyr has given us a classic book with resounding themes in a story told at the pace she has chosen. The details of life for Michelle, from the color of the autumn leaves to the crunch of gravel under her bicycle wheels, put us firmly into her world. The result is a piece of Americana that shimmers with innocence and loss and heartbreak.
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