Books in Canada
In this engagingly upbeat story about a Cape Breton girl at her lowest, Maureen Hull traces the journey of her teenaged narrator’s enforced stay in the “San” and later in hospital. Gwen, like a number of patients in 1970s Canada, has TB. A novice writer, she arrives at the sanatorium thin and limp, a sad case. But this inveterate journal-keeper becomes an expert on her disease: its history (long), treatment (bizarre) and its victims (many of them famous). On the subject of TB, Gwen is unfailingly instructive, often shocking, always entertaining.
Dramatic surprises are doled out as the narrative progresses. Gwen’s recent personal history is a doozy; her depressed father has shot (but not quite killed) her mother. Fiercely resistant to what she views as meddling by adults who want to treat her psychiatrically or pry into this event in any way-there’s a lovely scene when, home on a visit, she attacks a man from a tabloid intent on buying her story-Gwen focuses on making new friends among her fellow inmates and loving the family that remains.
Despite the tragedy in Gwen’s young life, the book is a life-affirming comedy most of the time, with many stand-alone episodes: First Love, the Break-Out, the Wedding. Running alongside the events described in these sections is her commentary on the lives of fellow TB sufferers: Kafka, Chopin, Mansfield, Chekhov. Countering these sad tales is the kite of the title, a symbol of her once-happy relationship with her father; there’s much uplifting kite lore too, a testament to Gwen’s unbeatable spunk.
Nancy Wigston (Books in Canada)
From School Library Journal
Grade 10 Up—Gwen has tuberculosis and is sent to a sanatorium. Her father has shot her mother in a murder-suicide attempt. Her mother lives, at least for a while, though in a vegetative state. Gwen's only surviving relative is an aunt who turns out to be her grandmother, and who is suffering from swiftly advancing dementia. Despite an almost unbearable life situation, Gwen does not feel inordinately sorry for herself, but deflects her pain with sarcastic wit. During her ample spare time, she researches historical cures for TB. She also reads about the lives of famous literary giants who suffered from the disease. Set in the early 1970s, this is a story that could be unbearably depressing, but Hull moves readers along through beautifully written prose, humorous events, and a character who grows to appreciate the gift of being alive.—
Catherine Ensley, Latah County Free Library District, Moscow, ID Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
