Kite

by Melvin Burgess

Imagine being a boy who collects birds' eggs, and discovering that an extremely rare and endangered red kite is nesting in the woods by your own house! This is just the beginning of Taylor's story. The kite is "vermin," as far as malevolent landowner Mr. Harris is concerned, and he wants Taylor to destroy its eggs. The plot thickens, as Taylor battles his warring feelings of loyalty to his father, who must do his job to protect Mr. Harris's pheasants; respect for the beautiful bird; and desire to own the precious egg. When, through a tragedy of errors, a kite chick hatches, Taylor's feelings become even more confused.

This gripping tale is not for the faint of heart. As an environmental message, it is graphically convincing. Baby crows are dropped from the top of a tree and squashed into a pulp, lumpy kite embryos are killed and blown through pinholes in eggs, and a living adult kite is virtually crucified with a nail through her foot. Melvin Burgess's story is compelling, but his writing is surprisingly disappointing. Awkward at times with some pretty unconvincing dialogue, it's hard to imagine how Burgess slipped, especially when Kite is compared to his Carnegie Medal-winning Smack. Still, if one can get beyond the occasional clumsiness in style, it's a fascinating depiction of the British tradition of game keeping for organized "hunts," which more closely resemble slaughter. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter

Genres: Animals, Young Adult

Hardcover

First published December 11, 1997

About the author

Melvin Burgess is a British author of children's fiction. His first book, The Cry of the Wolf, was published in 1990. He gained a certain amount of notoriety in 1996 with the publication of Junk, which was published in the shadow of the film of Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting, and dealt with the trendy and controversial idea of heroin-addicted teenagers. Junk soon became, at least in Britain, one of the best-known children's books of the decade.

Burgess again courted predictable controversy in 2003, with the publication of Doing It, which dealt with underage sex. America created a show based on the book, Life As We Know It. In his other books, such as Bloodtide and The Ghost Behind the Wall, Burgess has dealt with less realist and sometimes fantastic themes. In 2001 Burgess wrote the novelisation of the film Billy Elliot, based on Lee Hall's screenplay. Polyphony is typical for his most famous novels.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/melvin...

Reviews

[Mia (A Happy Little Bookworm) · Rating 3 out of 5]

After sitting on my bookshelf for more than two years, I finally decided to pick up Melvin Burgess’s novel, Kite. Filled with adventure-novel-esque characters, it was a short and engaging read.

PLOT

The story, which is set in the late 1990s in England, follows Taylor and Alan as they desperately try to save an endangered red kite that has nested in a local pheasant farm. Things get complicated as the owner of the pheasant farm and Taylor’s dad’s boss, sets out to destroy the bird, tasking Taylor’s dad with the job of hunting the creature and threatening to fire him if he doesn’t oblige.

MY THOUGHTS

I was pleasantly surprised by Melvin Burgess’s novel, Kite; it was a light and easy read filled with engaging young characters reminiscent of popular adventure novels (think Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven). I neither loved it nor did I dislike it, it was one of those sort of ‘meh’ reads.

One aspect of the novel that I found very effective was the use of third person point of view, specifically how the focus frequently switched from Alan and Taylor to Teresa (the name that the boys lovingly gave the kite). The focus seemed to change quite randomly at points throughout the chapter, however, rather than making the novel confusing, it actually acted to increase the dramatic irony present throughout the book; the audience knew something that the main characters didn’t.

CONCLUSION

I really enjoyed the overall atmosphere of the book, the young adventurous nature of the boys and the change in setting from books that I usually read. Overall, I felt that Kite was the perfect book to mix up my reading life and definitely one that I needed to get off my shelf. A 3 star read.

[Natalien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Red Kite is a very beautiful bird-of-prey. In Yorkshire, England their population was succesfully restored (too much - too quick unfortunatelly, they've become scavengers living in cities off rubish) but they are a calming sight to watch, soaring in the sky.

[ConwayCountyLibrary .org · Rating 5 out of 5]

(youth review)This was a good story. It moved fast and I liked the characters. ~Beth, 3rd grade, MIS

[M (Inactive because school) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story. Especially for kids. This is a British tale about birds and what they really are in this world. I've never really thought that birds are important before. Five stars!!

:D