The Wall and the Wing [Hardcover]

Laura Ruby (Author)

Book Description

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

In one vast
and sparkling city,
everyone can fly.

Almost everyone.

A few, nicknamed leadfeet, are sentenced by a trick of nature or fate to forever spend their lives closer to the ground. But one night, a girl named Gurl -- a leadfoot, an orphan, a nobody -- discovers that she can do something much better than fly.

She can become invisible.

This amazing power will help her uncover the secret mysteries of the city. But even with her newfound talent, Gurl can't seem to hide from a giant rat man with a taste for cats, a manipulative matron with a penchant for plastic surgery, and a belligerent boy named Bug. Gradually Gurl learns to control her power and teams up with Bug to figure out who and what she is. Their quest will take them on a wild ride through this magical city, where they'll confront chatty birds and mind-bending monkeys, an eccentric genius with a head full of grass and a pocket full of kittens, and the handsome but lethal Sweetcheeks Grabowski -- the gangster who holds the key to Gurl's past . . . and the world's future.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–In a New York City of the future, almost everyone can fly–except for leadfoots like 12-year-old Gurl, an orphan at the Hope House for the Homeless and Hopeless. When she sneaks out one night to rummage for food, she discovers that she can make herself invisible. When Mrs. Terwiliger, the matron who runs the institution, finds out about Gurls ability, she blackmails her into stealing clothing and perfumes and into fixing a $20,000 plastic surgeon bill by hacking into his computer. Bug, a new boy determined to fly, befriends Gurl and the mysterious cat she has found. They run away, only to be caught by notorious gangster Sweetcheeks Grabowski, who realizes that Gurl is a Wall, a person born every 100 years or so who can become invisible. He, too, has designs on her and will do anything to hang on to her. This poor-little-rich-girl story is packed with wildly eccentric characters, such as the Professor, who relies on his Answer Hand, which he bought on eBay, for information. There are also rat men with red eyes and filed teeth, a zipper-faced monster, a cat that showers and blow dries her fur, and mechanical monkeys that absorb the secrets and memories of the orphans. All of this fast-paced wackiness is told with humor, often black, that will have young readers giggling even as they cheer for Gurl and Bug, the Wall and the Wing.–Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. The author of Lily's Ghosts (2003) offers another intriguing fantasy for middle-grade readers. Twelve-year-old Gurl, a resident of Hope House for the Homeless who has a talent for becoming invisible (fading until she becomes "the wall"), adopts and tries to hide a mysterious cat. The matron discovers her pet and kidnaps it, blackmailing Gurl into a life of thievery. Eventually, Gurl escapes with another orphan, Bug, and the two become the object of a chase involving a peculiar professor, a giant rat, an infamous gangster, and a zipper-faced monster. This offbeat fantasy, which takes place in New York City, features visits to Little Italy and Central Park as well as city dwellers who can fly ("the wing"of the title). Eccentric characters are the norm: the professor lives with hundreds of cats, has grass growing out of his head, and shops on e-Bay; gangster Sweetcheeks Grabowski is a former diaper model. It takes time to sort out the large cast, but readers who persevere will be happy they did and look forward to the upcoming sequel. Kay Weisman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (February 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060752556
• ISBN-13: 978-0060752552
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,923,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Laura Ruby is the author of books for adults, teens and children. Her titles include the Edgar-nominated tween mystery LILY'S GHOSTS (now updated for 2011), the children's fantasy THE WALL AND THE WING (3/06) and a sequel, THE CHAOS KING (5/07) all published by Harpercollins. She writes for older teens as well, and her debut young adult novel, GOOD GIRLS (9/06), also from Harpercollins, was a Book Sense Pick for fall 2006 and an ALA Quick Pick for 2007. She followed this with the teen novels PLAY ME (2008) and BAD APPLE (2009).

Her short fiction for adults has appeared in various literary magazines, including Other Voices and The Florida Review. A collection of these stories, I'M NOT JULIA ROBERTS, was published by Warner Books in January 2007. Called "hilarious and heart-wrenching" by People and "a knowing look at the costs and rewards of remaking a family," by the Miami Herald, the book was also featured in Redbook, Working Mother, and USA Today, among others.

Raised in the wilds of suburban New Jersey, Laura Ruby now lives in the Chicago area with her husband and two cats that serve as creative advisors.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Phew! A really good fantasy!, March 21, 2006

By 

Susannah Melone (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wall and the Wing (Hardcover)

This book is such a delight that it actually provided relief from all the only-sort-of-good books I've read recently. The very recognizeable but slightly fantastic view of NY is wonderful, the characters a surprise and a joy, and the story so good that I didn't want to finish the book, because I didn't want it to be over.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast-paced, original, and addicting, March 24, 2006

By 

A Customer (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wall and the Wing (Hardcover)

The WALL AND THE WING by Laura Ruby --- also the author of the Edgar-nominated LILY'S GHOSTS --- is an original fantasy filled with colorful characters who inhabit a futuristic New York City. In this world, everyone wants to be a "wing," a person who can fly. Gurl, an orphan at the Hope House for the Homeless and Hopeless, is a leadfoot, not a wing.

One evening, while Gurl is out rummaging for food behind a restaurant, she discovers that she can make herself invisible. This talent to become a "wall" is very rare and highly prized in this future world. When her matron, Mrs. Terwiliger, discovers that Gurl can become invisible, she forces her into a life of crime. At first she blackmails the girl into stealing clothing and perfume, and later asks her to hack into computers.

Gurl befriends another orphan nicknamed Bug while she's chasing her cat down the hallway of the orphanage. The boy is named Bug because of his resemblance to a real bug. He and Gurl have something in common --- neither of them knew who they were before they came to Hope House. Bug has some special talents, like being able to pick locks, but he doesn't know why he has these special skills or how he learned them. Bug is Gurl's only friend at Hope House and she helps him discover his talent for flying. Neither of them like living at the orphanage and they want to leave as soon as possible to find out where they belong in the world.

Gurl and Bug decide to run away from the orphanage together. His skill as a flyer and her skill to become invisible complement each other. Together they face a huge cast of characters such as gangsters, giant alligators, human-sized rats, and a zipper-faced monster. Their adventure leads them to discover who they really are and where they belong.

THE WALL AND THE WING is one of the most original stories I have read in a long time. The fast pacing and plot twists will keep you turning pages.

--- Reviewed by Renee Kirchner ([e-mail])

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful, March 12, 2006

By 

Anne Ursu (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wall and the Wing (Hardcover)

In a vast and sparkling city that looks a great deal like New York, nearly everyone can fly--except Gurl, an orphan stuck in Hope House for the Homeless and Helpless. But Gurl soon finds she has another talent--she can become invisible. Soon she finds herself mixed up with the oddest group of friends and enemies, a belligerant boy named Bug with a penchant for punching things, a cat named Noodle who likes to blowdry her fur, a very eccentric professor with grass for hair, an orphanage matron with a serious addiction to plastic surgery, and a gangster who would like nothing more than to have a girl who can disappear.

This is one of the most inventive books I've ever read, and one of the funniest. You'll find yourself delighted and enchanted the whole time, and when you're done you'll want to go back to the first page and start all over again.