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Book Review By Susan Tanaka
Before Women Had Wings by Connie May Fowler

This story is about a nine-year old girl named Avocet Abigail Jackson, or Bird. Bird is a small town girl growing up in rural Florida in the 1960's as the impoverished daughter of alcoholic and physically abusive parents. Raised in the midst of chaos and turmoil, Bird is wise beyond her years. After falling to abuse by her alcoholic parents and the destructive upheaval of moving from one trashy house to the next, her one solace is Jesus, whom she fantasizes as her boyfriend. While battling the hard times of her father committing suicide and the voices in her head and her mother blaming her, Birds discovers Miss Zora, a mysterious black woman who lives alone in a cottage near Bird's school and comes to teach the little girl about dignity and her own capacity for forgiveness.


Plot & Themes
Tone of book? - depressed
Time/era of story - 1960's-1970's
Kids growing up/acting up? Yes
Kids: - religious influences
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Age group of kid(s) in story: - grade school
Parents/lack of parents problem?

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status:
Ethnicity/Nationality

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status:
How sensitive is this character?
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 8 ()
United States Yes
The US: - Southeast
Small town? Yes
Small town people: - very gullible, like Gomer Pyle
Misc setting

Writing Style
Lot of foul language? Yes
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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