The Fledglings [Paperback]

Sandra Markle (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

After overhearing a conversation at her mother's funeral, 14-year-old Kate learns the shocking truth about her grandfather, a Cherokee living on Snowbird Mountain. When a determined Kate finds the old man, her life takes a sudden turn into adventure and self-discovery as she learns the Cherokee way of life .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After her mother is killed by a drunk driver, orphaned Kate is supposed to join her censorious aunt and uncle and their two spoiled children. But then Kate overhears her neighbors having a very interesting conversation. It seems that Kate has a grandfather she has never known, that he's alive and well somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Cherokee, N.C., and that he has refused to take responsibility for her. Unfazed, Kate runs away and locates the man--a Cherokee Indian who's none too pleased to see her. Circumstances change rapidly in this fast-paced novel, however, and after the grandfather is injured while trying to stop poachers from capturing eagles, Kate's presence proves useful. He teaches her to live in the wilderness according to Native American precepts, she helps him come to terms with the dramatic rift within his family, and together they face the mortal dangers posed by the poachers. Kate's pluck and resourcefulness in daunting surroundings make her a near counterpart to the hero of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet . If this story lacks plausibility, it is solidly politically correct--and fun to read. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-10-- In this adventure of a newly orphaned teen, details about the Cherokee people are laid on like icing rather than becoming an integral part of the already disjointed tale. The story opens as Kate is being chased through the woods by a large dog, and then leaps back in time to just after her mother's funeral. Readers will already have trouble believing that she has just lost the only parent she's ever known (her father died in Vietnam); her family history is obviously a device to set up her encounter with her Cherokee grandfather, Tsan, who never seems very real either. The focus is on the theft of birds of prey from the forest where Tsan lives. The nurturing of a baby eagle and his lessons to Kate on the noble Cherokee ways parallel each other, but the lack of authenticity in relating any of this keeps readers distanced from the characters, and from the plot. It lurches from one supposedly suspenseful moment to the next in a jumble of cultural education; ecological awareness; and details of the simple, rather primitive, living conditions. The numerous cliffhangers are unbelievable; several chases, fights, miraculous escapes, and convenient appearances of characters may keep some involved, but this is just a mishmash. The best part is the glossary, and the way these words and phrases are used in the narrative. But there is no pronunciation guide, further indication of an overall shallow approach. --Carol A. Edwards, Buckham Memorial Library, Faribault, MN
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 138 pages
• Publisher: Boyds Mills Press; First Edition edition (February 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156397696X
• ISBN-13: 978-1563976964
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,142,366 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

SANDRA MARKLE

Sandra Markle is the author of more than 200 books for children, such as A Mother's Journey (Charlesbridge, 2006), How Many Baby Pandas (Walker, 2009), The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs (Millbrook, 2011), Butterfly Tree (Peachtree Publishing, 2011). She has won numerous awards for this work, including Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book, SB& F finalist, John Burroughs List of Nature Books for Young Readers, Junior Library Guild Selection, Orbis Pictus Recommended Book, Charlotte Zolotow Award, and MORE.
She was honoured with the title of "Best of Children's Non-Fiction" Georgia Author Of The Year award five times and was named one of 1999's Women of the Year by Women in Technology International for her contributions to science and technology.

In addition to her books, Sandra Markle has developed science specials for CNN and PBS. She is also noted for developing On-Line Expedition: Antarctica, one of the first on-line educational programs and continued adding further on-line reports from Antarctica while working on book projects in 1996 and 1999 as a grantee for the National Science Foundation's Artists and Writers Program.

Reviewers have heaped praise on Markle's books, including:
Outside and Inside Bats "The author presents a particularly felicitous accord of words and pictures in an outstanding science book for the primary grades." The Horn Book Magazine
Outside and Inside Alligators "This newest installment of the Outside and Inside series adds another fine book to a top-notch series." Bookselling This Week, a Kid's Pick of the Lists
Outside and Inside Dinosaurs It's like sitting down with a dinosaur expert who happens to be a great teacher." The Horn Book Magazine

Sandra Markle remains proudest, though, of the praise she has received in fan mail from children. She's happy to fulfill the requests of the young readers that urge her to "please write more."