#Book review – Talon, come fly with me

What Amazon says

An inspirational, highly emotional and entertaining read for all ages

This book is a lovely adventure with an amazing heroine. Matica is a strong, brave girl, who battles with her handicap and how others view her. But this isn’t a story only about her gaining acceptance or over coming her challenges. Rather, it’s a tale packed full of exciting moments and tons of emotions. Matica comes across naturally as does the village and world around her. It’s beautifully set and an easy landscape to dive into.

The way the author revealed each situation is fun to read and it made one anxious to see what’s next. Acceptance was eloquently woven into the story without being blatant. And the other thing I learned was that when certain things happen, you don’t always know why and just maybe something goodwill come of it.

My review

I reviewed this book in my capacity as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team. If you would like your book reviewed, you can contact Rosie Amber here: http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/.

Michael and I really loved this book. It is a story about a young girl, Matica, the daughter of a missionary living in a remote village in Peru. Matica suffers from a growing disability and is teased and ostracized by the local Indians as a result. Matica is lonely and she makes friends with a giant condor, Tamo, and his female partner, Tima. The condors are intelligent birds and are able to form a relationship with the little girl. My son, Michael, also suffers from a chronic condition and he was very sympathetic to Matica’s disability.

When Tamo and Tima’s egg is threatened to be stolen by poachers, Matica and her father must help them to save their egg and keep it safe until it hatches. The story conveys an excellent message about the danger to wildlife conservation programs posed by poachers and their unscrupulous methods. The poachers resort to shooting wildly at Tamo when he attempts to save his egg by attaching them.

The book provides some interesting insights into life for a Western family in the village of Pucara which is not at all sophisticated and is lacking in all technology and modern aids. It teaches children subtlety about persevering to overcome obstacles, acceptance of difference, respect for nature and wildlife and also about love and developing relationships with, and having respect for, other creatures.

Michael like this book so much we already have the next book in the series. I would really recommend Talon, come fly with me to children aged 9 to 13 years old. My rating for this book is five out of five stars.

Another Amazon review

Grady Harp rated this book five out of five stars and said:

Australian author Gisela (Gigi) Sedlmayer, originally from Germany until the Berlin Wall was erected, moved to Munich and studied architectural drafting – her entry into the work force – until she and her husband moved to New Zealand where her artistic gifts found response in creating hand crafted parrots. Gigi‘s next relocation was to Australia with her family now having grown to include two adopted twin girls. In 1994 Gigi was diagnosed with cancer and survived surgeries and radiation, and rather than ‘giving up’, Gigi turned to writing – the result being this very highly praised and awarded series – the Talon Series – a young adult series about a family of condors and missionary Australians and a young girl adopted by the condors.

The story is set in Peru and is focused on a young girl Matica who is congenitally small in stature (though nine years of age she appears to be age two!) and who is frowned upon by the Andean Indians because of her strange appearance: Matica is lonely and longs for friends which she finds not in people, but in the condors – birds of threatened extinction. She is guided by the great condors Tamo and Tima and when their egg hatches Matica nutures the young condor, Talon, who becomes her closest ally. Together they soar through adventures that celebrate the majesty of the Peruvian landscape and beyond.

There are many subtle and meaningful concepts the story shares – Matica may be small but her stature is great and in becoming involved with the condors, she is ultimately accepted as special by the Andean Indians.

This may be book 1 of a series but by the end of the book the reader is addicted to discover more and thus to proceed through the entire series. Very highly recommended. Grady Harp, January 18

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.