Spread Your Wings and Fly

by Ngoma Bishop

"Spread your Wings and Fly" is the story of Andrew Walcott, an eight-year-old boy born at a time of social and political turbulence in his native Barbados, an island in the Caribbean. Andrew is left by his mother, Monica, in the care of her older sisters, his two aunts, sisters Shirley and Darlene, when she leaves to join his father in London in pursuit of the means of a better quality of life with the intention of returning home in a few years. Although too young to understand the rapid and continuing developments that led his parents to make the same journey as many thousands of others to the 'motherland', Andrew is nonetheless subject to the subtle effects of that change, a change that threatens to turn this island in the sun, into the island of Coca-Cola. The story follows Andrew through the weeks leading up to his departure for England to join his natural parents who, like many others, have come to realize that their overseas adventure will have to be a long-term project.

182 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2010