Ten-year-old Jennifer Day lives in a small mining town full of secrets. Trying to make sense of the sudden death of her teenage sister, Beth, she l...
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Feb 14, 2011
Jillian -always aspiring-
rated it: 
This is the story of Elizabeth Day. I have pieced it together with my own hands. I have made it from things I saw and things I did not see but later knew. It is made from the tatters of terrible things and the remnants of wonderful things. I have sewn it together before it fades.
I won't lie: The Anatomy of Wings was an impulse buy. I was looking boredly through the young adult section at Borders, willing something to jump out at me -- and I saw this book. The Anatomy of Wings. More...
I won't lie: The Anatomy of Wings was an impulse buy. I was looking boredly through the young adult section at Borders, willing something to jump out at me -- and I saw this book. The Anatomy of Wings. More...
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Feb 23, 2009
Teen
rated it: 
Told from the point of view of a younger sister, this is the story of a girl, Beth, that mysteriously goes wild, to the point of no return. Her family slowly falls apart and piece by piece we are given the story that leads to her death.
Set in a small Austrailian mining town in the late 70's early 80's, the story feels very disconnected 2009 US. The story felt surreal throughout, although the situations that Beth found herself in could all be relevant to teens here today--opportuniti More...
Set in a small Austrailian mining town in the late 70's early 80's, the story feels very disconnected 2009 US. The story felt surreal throughout, although the situations that Beth found herself in could all be relevant to teens here today--opportuniti More...
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Jun 28, 2011
Emma
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The last line of the Goodreads summary says it all. I was initially hesitant to read this, just because it is meant to deal with a lot of big issues through the eyes of a 10-year-old. I was pleasantly surprised by the whole thing. Jenny Day's voice is poignant and tells a story that everyone else is afraid to.
The story is told through flashbacks. Jenny is trying to figure out why she can no longer sing since her sister passed away. She believes that the two events are connected an More...
The story is told through flashbacks. Jenny is trying to figure out why she can no longer sing since her sister passed away. She believes that the two events are connected an More...
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Sep 18, 2009
Pamela
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I found this book an interesting read. We get to watch a young teen (Beth) spiral out of control - into drugs, sex, and depression -- through the eyes of her younger sister, Jenny. Jenny and her friend begin to investigate the events surrounding Beth's death. I loved the parts of the book that focused on Beth's behavior and her family's reaction to those behaviors and her death. It felt honest, and was very compelling to read.
However, a few things the author did made it hard for More...
However, a few things the author did made it hard for More...
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Apr 30, 2009
Sarah
rated it:
Jenny was enamored with her older sister, Beth. Beth had grace, charm and beauty, and made everything appear effortless. In this novel, Jenny recounts their adolescence in a small, Australian mining town. Their neighbors and family watch Beth self-destruct, as she morphs from an innocent young girl into a mischievous delinquent. Spiraling out of control, Beth is earning an unfavorable reputation around town, and her parents are out of ideas on how to tame their wild daughter.
Beth More...
Beth More...
Sep 23, 2010
Melissa (i swim for oceans)
rated it:
The Anatomy of Wings is the story of ten-year-old Jennifer Day, who has no idea why her perfect sister, Beth is suddenly gone. Though young and still innocent, she wants answers, and she wants to understand how the sister she knew as the epitome of beauty and all things girly, had turned into someone she hardly even knew. Starting with the contents of a small cardboard box, Jenny starts to unravel the mystery surrounding the loss of her sister and learns to accept the reality of it.
I More...
I More...
Sep 28, 2010
Kerri
rated it:
This is a hard one to review. I started this book and after 70 pages I was going to put it down and not continue. You should know that I almost never begin a book and not finish it. I had read such great reviews on this book though and it made me mad to give up on it. I started to think - am I not the literary genius I think I am? (Obviously not!) There was nothing wrong with this book other than it went into such great detail. It was like a vivid picture was painted with each written sentence.
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Oct 28, 2009
Anne
rated it:
I was gonna give it 3, but talked myself down to 2 as i started writing the review.
Jenny's older sister Beth collapses by the lake one day. After that, Beth changes - and not in a good way. She begins to glow (not sparkle!) and she becomes a wild child. At 14 she is doing everything that no parent wants their 14 year old doing: drinking, smoking, sneaking out, sleeping around... Jenny follows her sister around but never stops her or tattles. There's another sister, too. And so More...
Jenny's older sister Beth collapses by the lake one day. After that, Beth changes - and not in a good way. She begins to glow (not sparkle!) and she becomes a wild child. At 14 she is doing everything that no parent wants their 14 year old doing: drinking, smoking, sneaking out, sleeping around... Jenny follows her sister around but never stops her or tattles. There's another sister, too. And so More...
Sep 03, 2009
Anne
rated it:
Although I found 98% of this novel depressing, I did appreciate a younger sister's perspective on her adored older teenage sister's implosion, free fall and suicide. As Jenny watches Beth enter into a sordid adolescence unprotected and unsupported by the adults in her world, she makes comments like:
"[Beth:] grew taller and thinner. She shed her childhood like a skin.
She could not be contained."
That younger, naive perspective was intriguing, but I also wished I knew w More...
"[Beth:] grew taller and thinner. She shed her childhood like a skin.
She could not be contained."
That younger, naive perspective was intriguing, but I also wished I knew w More...
Apr 16, 2009
Rebecca
rated it:
Read this for Mock Printz book club. The 3 stars are because I have no argument with Foxlee's style--her writing is lovely and wistful. But this book was so deeply sad and slow-moving, it was a struggle to keep reading. It's a matter of personal taste, not a comment on literary quality, but I just can't stomach contemplative, depressing YA problem novels. And this one was mighty depressing.
It's the story of Jennifer, who loses her singing voice after the death of her teenage sister Beth. More...
It's the story of Jennifer, who loses her singing voice after the death of her teenage sister Beth. More...
Jan 02, 2012
Nicci
rated it:
I just looked at this cover, and I knew I wanted to read this. The image is fantastic and the text placement is extremely eye-catching. Then after reading the summary I thought this sounded like something I would enjoy. However it was not quite what I expected. For some reason I was expecting the narrator to be older, but I actually was okay with Jennifer being young. What really disppointed me though, was just how depressing the story turned out to be.
The mystery of Beth’s death dr More...
The mystery of Beth’s death dr More...
May 15, 2010
Karen
rated it:
I'm not really sure why I finished this. I was completely lost the first 50 pages. The author was trying so hard to be poetic and abstract that I was completely confused. The sentences were often structured in a confusing way as well.
I figured it had to get better, but then as the story unfolded it was depressing and sent mixed messages. Why was she getting lighter when inside she was getting darker and lost? Was the ending supposed to be uplifting?
Why, when it seemed the story was bei More...
I figured it had to get better, but then as the story unfolded it was depressing and sent mixed messages. Why was she getting lighter when inside she was getting darker and lost? Was the ending supposed to be uplifting?
Why, when it seemed the story was bei More...
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Feb 22, 2009
Lauren
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When Jennifer, or Jenny as she is know by her friends, looses her sister, she has no clue why this horrible thing has occurred. Her sister, Beth, was beautiful, popular, smart, and according to their grandma, Beth could talk to angels. Plus, now that Beth is gone Jennifer has lost her stunning ability to sing. Every time that she opens her mouth, the words just will not come out. So now with the help of her best friend, Grace, Jenny is on a hunt to figure out what went wrong with her sister. In
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Apr 20, 2009
Pat
rated it:
Another book I wouldn't have read if I hadn't received the advanced reader's copy.
There were so many things I loved about this book. The protagonist is a young girl who recaps the slow disintegration of her sister's (Beth) life after the sister's death. With her best friend, the two girls keep a book of clues and the reader is taken back to each incident the two girls are investigating.
What I did not like about this book were the details of Beth's life written in vivid c More...
There were so many things I loved about this book. The protagonist is a young girl who recaps the slow disintegration of her sister's (Beth) life after the sister's death. With her best friend, the two girls keep a book of clues and the reader is taken back to each incident the two girls are investigating.
What I did not like about this book were the details of Beth's life written in vivid c More...
Apr 22, 2011
Lea09
rated it:
I really liked the story, the characters - this is a really emotional book which makes you think. I would recommend it to sensitive people who can be moved by little things in life and who enjoy emotional and deep stories.. However, I didn't really get some parts of the story - for example through the whole book I've been waiting to find out something that wasn't known for Beth - I was curious about that angel thing and expected that maybe the story will reveal it in the end.. I think I didn't q
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Jan 03, 2010
Amela
rated it:
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, but I just could not give it the full five stars; it didn't feel right. The storyline was very good, I liked the way the author told the story through different perspectives, especially the flashbacks of Mr. Murray, Miss Schmidt, and the O'Malleys. But the reason I didn't give it five stars is the part about Beth seeing an angel, it never made complete sense why it fit with what was going on with her. I had a pretty good idea, but it was difficult to be sure, and
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Aug 07, 2009
Lindsay
rated it:
Karen Foxlee is an awesome, poetic writer. And it was pretty cool to read a book set in 1980s Australia, since I've never been and am too young to really remember the 80s at all. The descriptions were all really cool, and in the days since finishing this book, I have found myself thinking more about them than the plot itself. I loved the image of the mom and dad wrestling in the hall as they come to terms with their grief, or the older couple on the street who talk without looking at each oth
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Jul 06, 2011
Erika
rated it:
Jennifer's older sister Beth died and her singing voice is gone. So she goes on a search with her best friend to find it while uncovering her sister's secret life. It takes place in the 1980s and is told through the voice of a young Australian girl in grade 5.
The storyline is very confusing because it's hard to tell when she's speaking in flashback or in the present. Plus she spends so much time describing family and neighbors that aren't even looked upon later. There has to be some kin More...
The storyline is very confusing because it's hard to tell when she's speaking in flashback or in the present. Plus she spends so much time describing family and neighbors that aren't even looked upon later. There has to be some kin More...
Jul 02, 2010
Taylor
rated it:
Really, a three and a half. This was a hard book to get in to. It was the kind of book that you have to appreciate the little things in. The random facts really struck me as interesting and the details flowed in a way I have never seen. I did have to stop multiple times and reread parts because I found my mind drifting. But it was a wrothwhile read. Beth was a strange character as was her death. The story didn't reveal much about Jenny as a person to me even though it was told in her veiwpoint,
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Oct 19, 2009
Lorena
rated it:
In a mining town full of secrets, located in, Queensland Australia, Jennifer Day is coming to terms with the loss of her older sister. Beth committed suicide and Jenny is trying to make sense of her sisters death by piecing together the final months of her life. Jenny attempts to accomplish this alongside her best friend, Angela by rummaging through a box Jenny's mom guards carefully containing all of Beth's last possessions. Initially, they where doing this to find Jenny's singing voice, whi
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Dec 10, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
Jennifer Day’s big sister Beth has died, and her family isn’t coping. Aged only ten, Jenny tries to make sense of what has happened, trying to unravel Beth’s secrets while also dealing with her parents’ and sister Danielle’s distress. She has to confront Beth’s bad-girl reputation in a tough outback mining town, survive at school and manage her own grief as the fragile remnants of her family tear each other apart. The trauma of all this has robbed her of her powerful singing voice and althoug
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Nov 10, 2010
Savannah
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jan 29, 2010
Anne
rated it:
Set in a small Australian town during the 1980s, The Anatomy of Wings is narrated by Jennifer Day - an eleven year old schoolgirl.
Jennifer's older sister Beth has died leaving a gaping hole in the family - a family that started out quite odd and dysfunctional and seem to grow stranger and stranger as they cope with their grief.
During the story, Jennifer tries to piece together what happened to Beth during her last few months. Beth, the beautiful, clever girl who fell one day More...
Jennifer's older sister Beth has died leaving a gaping hole in the family - a family that started out quite odd and dysfunctional and seem to grow stranger and stranger as they cope with their grief.
During the story, Jennifer tries to piece together what happened to Beth during her last few months. Beth, the beautiful, clever girl who fell one day More...
Dec 16, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
Her sister Beth is gone, and Jenny wants to understand why it all happened. At ten years old, she knows no one will tell her the truth, so she is determined to discover it for herself.
Her search begins with a blue cardboard box. She plans to sift through the things Beth left behind and find clues to explain why Beth changed. There are ballet slippers, a broken heart pendant, black rubber-band brace More...
Her sister Beth is gone, and Jenny wants to understand why it all happened. At ten years old, she knows no one will tell her the truth, so she is determined to discover it for herself.
Her search begins with a blue cardboard box. She plans to sift through the things Beth left behind and find clues to explain why Beth changed. There are ballet slippers, a broken heart pendant, black rubber-band brace More...
Feb 12, 2009
Yan
rated it: 
“Jennifer Day lives in a small Australian mining town full of secrets. After the sudden death of her teenage sister [Eliza:]Beth, Jennifer uncovers a blue cardboard box of her sister’s processions—a black rubber-band bracelet, a silver necklace with a half-a-broken-heart pendant, an address written in a leftward-slanting hand on a scrap of paper, and ballets slippers wrapped in their laces.
Why couldn’t Jennifer—or anyone else—save Beth? Their parents blame Beth’s friends and themselv More...
Why couldn’t Jennifer—or anyone else—save Beth? Their parents blame Beth’s friends and themselv More...
Oct 19, 2009
Josie
rated it:
This book was sent to me with a little note saying "i think you would enjoy" and indeed I did.
Being in a small mining town I related to the location of the book 100%. I found it so beautifully written, and it grippd me all the way through. I enjoyed the time line flicking back and forth, and even though the ending is made clear in the beginning it by no means stops you from being shocked at how things pan out.
Thoroughly enjoyed it, and keenly await her next book.Well worth More...
Being in a small mining town I related to the location of the book 100%. I found it so beautifully written, and it grippd me all the way through. I enjoyed the time line flicking back and forth, and even though the ending is made clear in the beginning it by no means stops you from being shocked at how things pan out.
Thoroughly enjoyed it, and keenly await her next book.Well worth More...
Oct 03, 2010
Leiana
rated it:
the book is depressing. it gets you angry. and at parts you hate because you hate beth. then, you feel bad for her because this stuff actually happens. beth reminded me of my cousin, who went to same things. no one understood why she was doing it, but the book actually opened my eyes a bit more. the book is the type that after you read, you can't get it out of your head. i actually felt like crying when i finished reading it because i'm a teenager. and i can relate to beth...i recommend!
Oct 27, 2010
Sheralyn
rated it:
Not in the least impressed. The story in confusing and jumps in too many tangents that I just do not have the desire to try to figure out its purpose. The language is terrible and unacceptable and I was really not impressed with the author's idea of a 13 year old sleeping with a man in order to "free" or "fix" him as the character constantly feels compelled to do with insects and ruining the main characters life while she is at it. Not worth finishing or starting. I am sorry
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Dec 15, 2011
Stephi
rated it:
The author's imagery is genuine and beautiful! It kept me hooked and I feel that she must be an amazing poet.
The plot was okay; however, I feel like Ms. Foxlee could have gone more in depth about what truly happened to Beth, and maybe even give readers a little insight into Beth's thoughts and/or motivations.
It was also unclear what truly happened to Beth.
The prose, though beautiful, does portray the voice of a ten year old.. And that deserves some special applause. :)
The plot was okay; however, I feel like Ms. Foxlee could have gone more in depth about what truly happened to Beth, and maybe even give readers a little insight into Beth's thoughts and/or motivations.
It was also unclear what truly happened to Beth.
The prose, though beautiful, does portray the voice of a ten year old.. And that deserves some special applause. :)
Aug 17, 2011
Katherine
rated it:
At first i wasn't able to get into this book because it felt like a slow start, and i didn't catch on to the flashbacks between present and past. The ending was happy but after everything that happened throughout the book it just was too sad for me. I took it as Beth having a gift but because of that gift she was more open to seeing the pain of the world and she couldn't handle it so she dealt with it by turning to drugs, sex, and alcohol. This is just how I interpreted the book though...
