above

Judge A Book By Its Cover

Book Reviews and Synopses

Above

Leah Bobet

Bobet, Leah. Above. Scholastic Inc. New York. 2012.

Above, is a book about a girl named Victoria, who discovers that her family isn’t just an ordinary American family. Above was nominated for the 2012 Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy and was named to Kirkus Reviews Best of 2012. Above was written by Leah Bobet who was nominated for the American Book Award.

Above starts out when Victoria’s aunt committed suicide. Her whole family came back home from the funeral. They each got a box from the priest at the church, where the ceremony was held. They all got in the family room and sat in a circle, and opened their boxes just like Christmas. Victoria watched as they opened their boxes.

They all got little gifts with notes and suddenly it seemed like all the sadness and tears of the funeral had turned into pure joy. Finally, it was her turn to open her gift. When she opened it she found just a note. “Unbelievable,” she thought to herself. “Everyone gets these fancy little gifts but all I get is a note?” She ran up to her room in fear that she would burst into tears all over again. When Victoria got to her room, she shut the door and read the note. It said ; “Hi Victoria! I just wanted to let you know that you don’t only get a note. Remember our special place in the woods that we would go to when you were younger? Go there tonight at 12:00 AM sharp! Your Aunt Mary.”

That night, Victoria went up the ladder to the special treehouse she found years ago with her aunt. She entered the tree house using the code lock they had made. In the middle of the dusty wooden floor she found a pair of fairy wings that looked like they had been cut out of a kiddy halloween costume. She picked it up and underneath she found another note. It said, “put on these wings, they’re magical!” “Really? Fairy wings?” she thought to herself. Yet, she found herself trying to fit into the tiny wings. She struggled and struggled until she finally got them on. Suddenly she felt herself rising until she could practically touch the roof. When she tried to go back down, she felt pressure pushing her up until she touched the roof of the treehouse.

She flew back home and woke up her parents. She told them what happened, her mom said that she needed to talk to her. She told her that flying has always been a power in the family but only some special members get to use it. Victoria’s mom told her that this was a secret, and only family members were allowed to know. So she decided to only use this power as a reminder of her aunt.

Above teaches that everything happens for a reason and people should be positive about it. Leah Bobet did a great job of capturing Victoria’s feelings throughout the whole book.

Contributed by H. Gebremariam

April 4, 2013

3 out of 5 stars