Eagle Kite [Mass Market Paperback]

Paula Fox (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1996

A poignant tale traces a boy's difficult and painful struggle to come to terms with his father's homosexuality and AIDS, before it is too late. Reprint. AB. SLJ. H. PW.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Liam contends with a web of family secrets and lies when his father reveals he has AIDS. In a boxed review, PW said, "Fox's prose is fraught with perception.... Readers cannot help but be deeply affected." Ages 12-up. (Oct.) r
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8-12?Liam, a high school freshman, learns that his father is dying of AIDS. Suddenly, his comfortable family is in pieces, and his father has gone to live in a seashore cottage two hours from the family's city apartment. Distanced from both parents by secrets each of them seems compelled to keep, Liam remembers having seen his father embrace a young man years before?a friend, his father had said. In the remainder of the book, Liam and his parents wrestle with truths that encompass not just disappointment and betrayal, but intense love. This is far more than a problem novel. AIDS is integral to the plot, the issue is handled well, and the character who has AIDS is portayed sympathetically, but the book's scope is broader than that. It is a subtly textured exploration of the emotions of grief that will appeal to the same young people drawn to Mollie Hunter's A Sound of Chariots (HarperCollins, 1972) and Cynthia Rylant's Missing May (Orchard, 1992). Dramatic tension is palpable, sustained in part by a dazed, timeless quality in Liam's slow reckoning with loss. The characters are neither idealized nor demonized, and Fox's take on Liam as a confused, seethingly angry, tight-lipped, surreptitiously tender teenager has the ring of authenticity. Some in the target audience may find the action too slow or the mood too dark, but those who persevere will be rewarded by the novel's truthfulness.?Claudia Morrow, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf (September 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440219728
• ISBN-13: 978-0440219729
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,804,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I think that thes book is great, October 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Eagle Kite (Hardcover)

Eagle kite.By Paula Fox was about a ten year old boy named Liam. Laim smashed and buried his Eagle Kite that his father had givenhim. It was the day that he saw his father on the beach with someone else. Liam has kept that memory for three years. Now liam's mother knows that his is sick from a blood transfusion . Liam knows the truth about what had happend to his father. He also knows how his father has betrayed them ever since.Liam and his mother know that their is nothing they can do and his father is soon to die

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful and Amzing, April 10, 2001

By 

Toby Sanders (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eagle Kite (Mass Market Paperback)

The only problem with this book is that it is too short.

Paula Fox manages to paint a picture of our society within the microcosm of a family that reflects the good and bad attitudes many otherwise good people have regarding gays and AIDS. Don't be put off by any warnings. The people, both young and old, who have trouble with the book reflect more of their own personal problems in dealing with the subject matter. After speaking to several middle school students who found the book at a recent book fair, I discovered that they were able to empathize with Liam, the hero of the story. The only thing they couldn't understand is why Liam's mother and aunt behaved the way they did. They could see in the adults' attempts to protect the boy that they were hurting him more than helping him.

This is a book that should be a welcome addition to any classroom library. It would even make an excellant text on which to base a series of lessons on tolerance and acceptance.

"The Eagle Kite" soars.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Th Eagle Kite Is A True Work Of Beauty, March 12, 2000

By 

Leslie (El, Cajon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eagle Kite (Hardcover)

When I first heard of this book I was sincerly interested. But when I read it- it was everything, even more than what I hoped for. It was desciptive, honest, and completly heart wrenching. Liam's father had AIDs. Liam was told it came from bad Blood Tranfusions. Liam didn't agree with this. Liam remembered the day he saw his father on the beach. He was not alone. In fact, he was embracing someone. But yet, not just any someone. Liams father was embracing a man. Liam could not forget about this. It stayed inside him, and in my opinion was eating him alive, just like AIDs was eating his father. Liam found the courage to forgive his father. That really touched me. Because, I know the exact feeling of having to have your family angry and hurt by you, but then to have them except and forgive you. The Eagle Kite was definetly a book all families should read. I also think it would be wonderful inspiration for families who are having poblems that include a gay person in the family. The ending was ironic, but I shouldn't give it away for the people who havent read it. Enjoy!