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A Fast and Brutal Wing
A Fast and Brutal Wing
Author: Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson
She leapt, a perfect arc, lithe muscles propelling her through the air, leaving what was human behind, clothes fallen to the ground. She was cat, claws unsheathed, teeth bared. Loving the hunt, the chase, the pounce and the strike, her teeth sinking into flesh, blood spurting in her mouth.Animal justice: ruthless and swift. And tot...  more »

A provocative, richly layered, and utterly compelling novel that asks the answerable: what is truth, and what does it mean to be human?

Niki and Emmet are siblings with a secret: their ability to change from human to animal, and back-their ability to transform-she to a cat, he to a hawk. Their mother is clueless, but how much does the elusive writer Slanger know? Is their classmate Doug as superficial as he seems? Is the psychiatrist a caretaker or an enemy? And what did she have to do with their father's disappearance?

Alternating 4 voices, paralleling the transformations of adolescence itself, this book is also about the transformative power of great literature, on the border between the darkest fantasy and our own reality.
ISBN-13: 9781596430136
ISBN-10: 1596430133
Publication Date: 10/1/2004
Pages: 192
Reading Level: Young Adult
Rating:
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 1

4 stars, based on 1 rating
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette
Members Wishing: 0
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A Fast and Brutal Wing
By: Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson
Rate: 9

Fast and Brutal Wing by Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson is a good book. It is about a girl named Niki and her brother Emmet who are a little different than other people. It is written in a series of journal entries, emails, newspaper articles, and stories. All about the strange events that leads to a strange authors disapearence. Niki, Emmet, and their friend Doug were there when the author went missing on Halloween night. The wierd part is that the siblings can transform into animals and back. But no one will believe them.
I give the book a 9 because it was a really good book. I thought that it was a very creative idea to write the book in a series of journal entries, emails, newspaper articles, and stories. I thought the book was really good because it had action and it was mysterious. The mysterious part was good and bad. It was good because it made the story cooler and the bad part was that at first it was a little confusing because I didnt know what was happening. Then you could later grasp the story more. I didn't get into the book until a while into the book. In the begining of the book you couldnt grasp what was going on in the book, who were the characters and why these things were happening, but then later into the book it was explained. Other than that I thought that the book was really good.
-Nicole D.


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