Reader's Diary #1799- Kenneth Oppel: Silverwing

Silverwing, by Kenneth Oppel, is about a young bat who strikes up an unlikely friendship after getting lost from his mother. No, it's not Stellaluna and that's where the similarities end. (Well, they're also both great, I guess!)

I am not surprised to here that this book has been chosen for novel studies in classrooms right across North America. There's tonnes of action (complete with the villainous Goth) that would appeal to the more energetic readers but also a lot of rich themes to explore for the more subdued types.

I especially loved Oppel's rich development of fictionalized bat cultures, complete with religion and folklore.

Silverwing is the first in a trilogy though works well enough as a standalone.

One minor negative observation is that the illustrations by David Frankland, while fine, are few and far between and don't actually add anything significant to the book.