With their mother caring for relatives in Israel and their father driving a cab all hours of the day, Roxanne and her sister, Gayle, spend a lot of time watching television reruns of Little House on the Prairie, The Brady Bunch, and Wonder Womanperfect examples of perfect Americans. Roxanne is desperate to be like them. When Liat, a fellow Israeli, moves into the Cursed House next door, things begin to change and Roxanne realizes that maybe real life isnt like TVmaybe its even better. The novel is set on Staten Island, New York, in the early 1980s.
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8–When Roxanne's mother returns to Israel to care for an ailing relative, the 13-year-old and her younger sister are left to fend for themselves. They eat cold cereal and canned mushrooms for dinner every night or buy hotdogs from the neighbors, and spend their afternoons and evenings watching television while their father works late nights as a cab driver in Manhattan. But when Liat moves into the cursed house next door, Roxanne slowly discovers that her obsession to become all-American might not be as important as she once thought. Confident and unconcerned with what others think, Liat is proud to retain her Israeli name (Roxanne has changed hers from Ravit) and is not embarrassed by her father's clothes, thick accent, wildly decorated car, or outrageous girlfriend. The fact that Liat's house does turn out to be cursed–a mysterious house fire forces the family to return to Israel–seems a bit far-fetched, but it does add drama to the story. Roxanne's fixation with television quickly becomes tiresome, and today's readers might not relate to all of the aspects of 1980s culture sprinkled throughout the narrative, such as the coveted winged hairstyle. Despite these weaknesses, this is a readable coming-of-age story that captures many universal aspects of the contemporary immigrant experience coupled with middle school angst, first crushes, and the importance of finding one's own wings.–Rachel Kamin, North Suburban Synagogue Beth El, Highland Park, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
Roxanne (Ravit) Ben-Ari is an Israeli-American girl growing up in 1980s New York City. Family life is less than idyllic, with her mother away in Israel and her father working late into the night as a cab driver. The long afterschool hours are spent watching favorite television reruns, eating sporadically from a nearly empty refrigerator and managing to get by with homework assignments. Roxanne aches for her mother's safe return and longs to fit in with her all-American schoolmates, the very reason she changes her Hebrew name. When Liat, a new Israeli girl moves into the empty "cursed" house on the block, Roxanne's attitude on life and her family circumstances is transformed. Liat's Israeli pride brings a fresh perspective that encourages a new confidence in Roxanne, who can then identify with and appreciate her family and dual cultural lifestyle. Told in a first-person voice that is both sardonic and sincere, Friedman's novel succeeds in bringing forth some common issues that challenge any immigrant American child who must straddle separate ways of life while striving for that true-blue American image. --Kirkus Reviews
Eighth-grader Roxanne misses her mother, who has gone home to Israel for several months to care for a relative. It's the early 1980s, in Staten Island, and Roxanne's other big concern is her family's lack of throrough-going Americanness; being Israeli, she has decided, is a problem. She and her nine-year-old sister live on a diet of television, cold cereal, and waiting for their father to return late each night from driving his cab. Then Liat, a girl Roxanne's age, moves in next door and challenges the sisters to explore the possibilities around them and accept their identity as Israeli Americans. The denouement, in which Liat's father packs her up for another move, this time back to Israel, feels rushed. But Friedman does an exquisite job in bringing the two older girls to life and showing how each has responded to her family's upheavals and current circumstances. Minor characters are also compelling and, for the most part, endearing. --Booklist
Eighth-grader Roxanne misses her mother, who has gone home to Israel for several months to care for a relative. It's the early 1980s, in Staten Island, and Roxanne's other big concern is her family's lack of throrough-going Americanness; being Israeli, she has decided, is a problem. She and her nine-year-old sister live on a diet of television, cold cereal, and waiting for their father to return late each night from driving his cab. Then Liat, a girl Roxanne's age, moves in next door and challenges the sisters to explore the possibilities around them and accept their identity as Israeli Americans. The denouement, in which Liat's father packs her up for another move, this time back to Israel, feels rushed. But Friedman does an exquisite job in bringing the two older girls to life and showing how each has responded to her family's upheavals and current circumstances. Minor characters are also compelling and, for the most part, endearing. --Booklist
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
I feel so privileged to be a writer. Writing has brought me great joy since I was five years old, and I will always feel profoundly grateful for the honor of sharing my love of words with others.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Back in the 1980s when television re-runs provided a major source of entertainment, shows like Wonder Woman and Charlie's Angels generated a number of female role models and fashion styles. Hence long feathered hair with wings not only prevailed as the must-have hair style at school, it also represented in Roxanne's eyes what it meant to be a normal American girl. Roxanne, an Israeli immigrant, longed to be a normal American girl with feathered hair living in a normal American family, but she could not seem to grasp onto that sense of belonging.
Her father worked long hours driving a taxi in Manhattan, her mother had gone back to Israel to care for a sick relative, she and her younger sister spent seemingly endless stretches of time by themselves in a house with bare cupboards and no supervision, and her hair certainly would not cooperate to form those perfect wings. It took the arrival of a new girl in town - an independent, courageous, and beautiful Israeli girl who happened to move into the bright pink house next door - for Roxanne to recognize her own insecurities, value her heritage, and become more proactive about her life.
Clearly woven into the story is an important lesson about the risk of food insecurity when parents don't have enough time or money to properly care for their children. This engrossing novel, with its well-developed characters, does an excellent job in playing upon different interpretations of the book's title. The Importance of Wings makes for an altogether enjoyable and insightful read.
Her father worked long hours driving a taxi in Manhattan, her mother had gone back to Israel to care for a sick relative, she and her younger sister spent seemingly endless stretches of time by themselves in a house with bare cupboards and no supervision, and her hair certainly would not cooperate to form those perfect wings. It took the arrival of a new girl in town - an independent, courageous, and beautiful Israeli girl who happened to move into the bright pink house next door - for Roxanne to recognize her own insecurities, value her heritage, and become more proactive about her life.
Clearly woven into the story is an important lesson about the risk of food insecurity when parents don't have enough time or money to properly care for their children. This engrossing novel, with its well-developed characters, does an excellent job in playing upon different interpretations of the book's title. The Importance of Wings makes for an altogether enjoyable and insightful read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Middle-schooler Roxanne spends her days watching television reruns with her sister, mooning over the boy down the street, and dreading gym class. Her father works long hours as a taxi driver, and her mother is on an extended visit to Israel to care for a family member. Although Roxanne was born in Israel, she wants more than anything to be "all-American". It takes some important lessons from her new neighbor, Liat, to teach her how to be herself. This is a sweet coming of age tale that has a strong feeling of autobiography to it. Roxanne's desire to be "American" in every way is mentioned repeatedly throughout the novel, well past what would be necessary to let the reader know about it, but the writing is solid overall. Despite an intriguing suggestion of doom for Liat in the beginning, there is very little tension (or action) in the novel. A nice, if slightly dull, slice of 1980s life.
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
All Roxanne wants in life is to be more American, just like the "Brady Bunch", but as she goes along her adventure, she realizes that life isn't all about being popular or sporty like the girls from her school. Roxanne is a 13 year old Israeli girl whose parents are rarely around. Her mother is back in Israel taking care of her sick mother and her father is busy working as a taxi driver in Manhattan. She lives next door to a house that everyone calls "The Cursed House"; however once another Israeli girl, Lait, moves in things change for Roxanne. At first, everyone worried and teased Lait about living in the house, but because of her braveness and strength, she was able to kill the curse. As you read the book, you will experience friendship, sacrifices, lessons, bonds, sadness and farewells. I recommend this book for kids ages 9-10 and up.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Importance of Wings Teaches Many Lessons and Entertains
I love tween novels that allow me to relive my 80s childhood. Friedman's book The Importance of Wings is set in the 1980s, as Roxanne and Gayle are growing up, trying to fit in and... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Tina Says
Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner for Older Readers
Roxanne and her younger sister Gayle come home from school each day to watch TV reruns, eat Cocoa Puffs, and eventually get around to doing homework. Read more
Published on January 17, 2010 by STBAC Past Chair
The Importance of Wings
Life is hard, especially for shy kids in middle and high school if they look different from the "in" group, have a touchy family situation, a lack of athletic skills, a poor... Read more
Published on December 28, 2009 by Jewish Book World Magazine
Good Lesson
The Importance of Wings is a coming of age tale. Taking place in the 80's, the main character, Roxanne, believes that one of the most important things in the world is to have the... Read more
Published on October 19, 2009 by Shannon M. Mcgee
Inside This Book
(learn more)
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs):
(learn more)
Cursed House, Wonder Woman, Tel Aviv, Rosh Hashanah, Silver-Haired Mutant, Old-Fashioned Yankee Spiced Cake, Stood-Up Serena, Super Friends, Cocoa Pebbles, West Virginia Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Cursed House, Wonder Woman, Tel Aviv, Rosh Hashanah, Silver-Haired Mutant, Old-Fashioned Yankee Spiced Cake, Stood-Up Serena, Super Friends, Cocoa Pebbles, West Virginia Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
