Flying Sparks: Growing Up on the Edge of Las Vegas

by Odette Larson

Contrasting the frontiers of this haunted geography with the severity of her life at home, this extraordinary rite of passage includes a spectacular escape from a mental hospital with two convicted killers and brutal adventures on the streets of Oakland.

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Lori L (She Treads Softly) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flying Sparks: Growing up on the Edge of Las Vegas by Odette Larson is a graphic account of the abuse Larson suffered as a young girl, beginning at age 8 until she was 12, not only at the hands of her mother but by predatory men in the late 50's early 60's. It's disturbing and graphic in its brutal honesty. As a young girl, Larson seemingly jumps from one awful experience to another, all while fearing the beatings her mother will give her, a vicious whipping with a belt. While Larson does write about the desert landscape with a real passion, most of her story will incite in readers a real rage against the way she was repeatedly mistreated and abused. The books ends quite abruptly and really without a satisfactory conclusion or a complete resolution. We know Larson is a successful teacher and author today. I'd like to know more about how she overcame her tragic childhood experiences and faced the challenges of adolescence.
Highly Recommended - but not for the tender hearted; http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/

A note: The mental hospital was not called Sparks, the hospital was IN Sparks... Sparks, NV, which is right by (and essentially part of) Reno today. The book made that clear but both the synopsis on the cover and the Publisher's Weekly review didn't seem to comprehend that Sparks is the name of a city. Maps are our friends, people.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel so privileged to know this author personally. I've been teaching next door to her for 4 years and I was her long term sub for one year. This is the autobiographical account of her childhood which she began writing as a college assignment. What began as a series of short stories, her professor saw developing into a book. Most are taken by surprise at the abrupt ending where nothing seems to be learned from these experiences, but she never meant to stop writing there and had intended to continue her account into adulthood. She is a lovely good hearted person whom you would never believe experienced any of these horrific ordeals.