Setting Free the Kites

It's 1976, and on the first day of eighth grade, Hollis Calhoun is flushing Robert Carter's head down the school's toilet. Enter new boy Nathan Tilly, and the scene changes as a friendship forms. Robert and Nathan bring out the best in each other just long enough to cope with the deaths of Nathan's father and Robert's brother. Despite the tragedies, readers won't feel weighed down. Like the kites Nathan sets free, the prose soars as the author tackles first loves, best friends, and clever acts of revenge. George employs a style similar to that of Jean Shepherd (author of A Christmas Story), conjuring up a run-down amusement park, a man with a toe for a thumb, a dead mongoose, a chain-smoking dragon, and more. Also included are an oddly placed World War II flashback story and an unnecessarily long epilogue, but neither will detract from readers' enjoyment. The humor and poignancy of the boys' parallel experiences will give teens something to consider and discuss.