Customer Reviews

Night Flying

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although this book is recommended for young adults, it speaks to the young adult in all of us. Not only does Rita Murphy know the beauty of her native Vermont landscape, she sprinkles it with a magic that all Vermonters and visitors know well.

This is a spare, beautifully written novel about the pain and exotic excitement of venturing out into a world that is at once exquisite and nurturing and yet lonely and isolating.

As a 38 year old , I was captivated until the last page. I want to know what happened to Georgia the day after!!

Thank you Rita Murphy for your gift to all of us

What a spare, yet rich, work of literature!

NIGHT FLYING speaks to that part in all of us which longs to be master of our dreams. Though written for the young adult market, this gorgeous, ethereal book is a must-read for all independent, creative thinkers, aged 10 to 100.

This is a pass-along book. You will read it in one day, and then will want to share it with a special person.

Thank you, Rita Murphy, for sharing your talent with me! You are a true artist.

Rita Murphy's Night Flying is a captivating tale about a girl getting in touch with herself that makes your greatest dreams turn to reality. It's very easy to fall into. When you read it, you'll feel as if you're a part of it. Flying with Eva, Maeve, Suki, stif old grandmother, and Georgia and feeling their anger, sorrow, and joy. It will inspire you to be open and truthful with yourself and with others. I recomend this book for ages 9-99 and garentee a great ride.

My sister sent me this book because I have a t-shirt that says, "Women fly when men aren't watching." Rita Murphy must have this shirt too. "Night Flying" is a wonderfully written coming of age story that I am recommending to both mothers and daughters. From the opening line, "The Hansen women have always flown at night, even in bad weather," I was ready to fly along. As three geenrations of Hansen women prepare for Georgia's 16th birthday and her first solo flight, Georgia ponders what her mysterious Aunt Carmen did to be cast out from the family. When Carmen returns for the eventful birthday, we all learn something important about rules, and when to break them. I'm looking forward to Ms. Murphy's next work.

Georgia Hansens has waiting almost all her life for this moment, will she let it slip through her fingers?

Goergia Hansen is a average 15 year old, and she has been waiting for her 16th birthday not because she wants to drive, oh no she can't wait to fly on her own. Yes you heard me right, fly. All the women in Georgia's family can fly. But, there are quite a bit of rules involved, you have to be a verateran, you have to fly at night, and you CAN not fly alone until your 16th birthday. But now that her mom's misterous sister is back with a secret that will change her forever, Georgia breaks one of the rules. This means no solo flight saramony, the thing that Georgia has waited for 16 years. Georgia is now stressed with whether or not she should admit what she did, but she is worried her other secrets may slip out as she confesses. Georgia is also wonders if the resone her strange aunt is here is because of her.

This book is wonderful, I could'nt put it down. I rate it five stars foer the authors amazing ability to mix fantasy with every day life.

Would you tell the truth, or live with your own guilt?

Georgia Hansen, along with all the other women in her family posses a special gift: the ability to fly. Despite the freedom that this type of power affords, the Hansen women's existence is controlled by rules created by Georgia's domineering grandmother. Even though Georgia knows the rules are essential to her family's survival, she can not help but feel stifled by them and dreams of a world where the only rule is that there are no rules.

While she is preparing for her first solo flight, Georgia's mysterious Aunt Carmen returns home after being banished from the family farm for rebelling against the rules. By accident (or by design) she reveals to Georgia secrets about her past and sets her off into a fit or rage and confusion during which she breaks one of the family's most important rules.

Rita Murphy's debut novel is a wonderful story about a young girl on the verge of becoming a women who is struggling to define her own self against a backdrop of rules and family secrets. Anyone can relate to Georgia's struggle between living up to her family's expectations of her and fulfilling her own desires. The language is simple, yet it paints a beautiful picture of rural Vermont that readers of any age can appreciate.

Rita Murphy, Night Flying (Delacorte, 2000)

Night Flying is one of those young adult books I happened to pick up by accident because it was in the wrong section at the Case book sale. Glad I did, because this is a fun little book. Murphy never talks down to her audience, refreshing in a YA novel, and better yet, adult readers won't gag on the sentiment. Murphy has a message, but she is as good as any novelist writing for adults (and better than most) at making it palatable.

Georgia Hansen is on the eve of her sixteenth birthday. To say her life has been something less than conventional would be an understatement. She lives in a house with only women, none of whom work (all are living off the inheritance of her great-grandfather, an inventor who died with enough to ensure that Georgia's granddaughters will never have to work, either) and all of whom can fly. They do so only under the auspices of very strict rules; each female member of the family adds a rule as time goes on. You can imagine what it's like after a few generations. All, with the exception of wayward Aunt Carmen (who lives across the country), are under the thumb of Georgia's grandmother, a stern and humorless individual whose main goal seems to be making life miserable for her offspring and their offspring.

Things start to get messy when Carmen comes back for Georgia's birthday celebration. Georgia immediately forms a love/hate relationship with her, yearning after Carmen's freedom while wondering how someone could so easily slip the bonds of family obligation. (It's not so simple as all that, of course, which Georgia finds out eventually, but so the relationship begins).

At its core, this is a pretty simple coming-of-age tale, albeit with magical-realistic elements. Murphy, as with the best of the magical realist authors, never allows the trappings to get in the way of her story, especially her character development. Everyone, major characters and minor, is well developed and has a place in the little sonata that is this novel; not a note falls out of place. The allegory is somewhat obvious (the ability to fly is gained, but suppressed until the sixteenth birthday), and the action in the climax somewhat predictable, but Murphy addresses the subject form a perspective that is not often seen; she's a young adults' author writing from the perspective of a young adult who has a brain of her own, rather than showing a young adult whose beliefs and opinions are just those of a "more mature" (read: adult) mindset. This, more than anything, lends the book its magical realism; the idea that
sometimes the kids really are correct.

A fine read. ****

Georgia Hansen has a secret that she cannot share with even her closest friend. She and the other women in her family can fly. This secret, and the strict rules and code in which she lives by cause Georgia to struggle with her family as well as her own emotions. When Georgia learns the truth about her family from her rebellious Aunt Carmen, she performs an act that, in the past, has caused to be disowned. This book would be interesting to those who enjoy fantasy because of the thought of flying and the descriptions the author gives allow you to picture the events vividly in your mind. Since this is a coming of age story, teenage girls could learn a lot from the strength and courage Georgia exhibits and in her ability to make decisions. This would be an excellent book for teenagers who are questioning rules, family relationships, and even the devastation caused by secrets. The choices Georgia and her family make are positive and provide a good role model for teens to follow.

Generations of Hansen women have lived with the family secret...the ability to fly. But for Georgia Hansen, about to turn 16, there is another secret kept by her mother, aunts, and domineering grandmother that she must discover on her own. Anticipating her first solo flight on her 16th birthday, Georgia is worried that the arrival of her Aunt Carmen, who left the family and its rigid rules years earlier, may disrupt the initiation. This coming-of-age story reveals the harm hiding the truth can do, and the damage strict no-questions-asked rules can bring to a family. Rita Murphy's first novel will be a compelling read for young girls. However, for anyone past middle school, the story is rather simple. Murphy's characters lack any real depth, and the relationships are not fully developed. Also, when the truth is revealed, it is really no surprise to older readers who figured out Georgia's story at the beginning of the novel. Despite these weaknesses, the theme of being able to fly above it all, literally and figuratively, is universal, and younger readers will enjoy the protagonist's struggle with her independence.

I am an adult who enjoys "Young Adult" books like Harry Potter, Pendragon, Remnants, Everworld, etc. The other reviews described the book well so I only have one other comment to add... I picked this book up at the library and read it in a day. It was a very easy read, a simple but compelling story. I think it is a little too young to be classified as "Young Adult" but do not take that as a criticism. I just think it is a great book for girls, ages 10 to 13. I enjoyed the book so much though that I will be buying it to keep on the bookshelf for my daughter - who is almost 4 - to read when she is older.