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On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68
Master story-teller and poet Dede Fox offers readers this remarkable novel in verse. It is the story of seventeen-year-old Diana Greene and her travels from Texas to Mexico. The tale is one of adventure and romance, of culture shock, and genuine danger. Diana lands in Mexico during the revolutionary chaos prior to the 1968 Olympics. Her first love Guillermo vanishes the night of the Tlatelolco violence. Heartbroken, she searches for the truth about his disappearance, a quest that puts her in jeopardy from abusive police. Based on real events, 'On Wings of Silence' makes use of actual details from what historians now call the Tlatelolco Massacre, presented here through the eyes of a young woman readers will admire and care about.
196 pages, Paperback
Published April 2, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 16, 2019
Upon finishing ON WINGS OF SILENCE: MEXICO ’68, my brain is buzzing with impressions. I look at the clock and wonder how I could have experienced so much in so little time. Written in verse, and coming in under 200 pages, ON WINGS OF SILENCE is a quick read, but it says more than many books that are triple its size. Much more. I read the book straight through in one sitting, and I would recommend others do the same. And then read it again.
Maybe being loved isn’t a magical charm
that saves us from a terrible fate.
Maybe our loving someone,
knowing what they’d want for us,
simply helps us become braver, stronger.
ON WINGS OF SILENCE is a coming of age story and a historical novel, but it’s so much more. With the talent of author and poet Dede Fox, readers are transported back to 1968 and into the vibrant but tumultuous culture of Mexico City, just as the Olympics are set to begin. Those who know their history understand the nuances of this setting and the significance of events that happened at the Olympic games that year. Next level scholars may even recall the political climate of Mexico and the massacre at Tlatelalco just before the games began – a blip in the history books, if mentioned at all, but a blip that becomes horrifying and feels too familiar, sickening and personal, upon reading about it in ON WINGS OF SILENCE. The parallels to what’s happening now, fifty years later won’t go unnoticed: Russians influencing citizens of another country, the United States supplying weapons to fight someone else’s battle, peaceful gatherings shattered by bullets. History repeating itself again and again.
A cool shower washes away the sweat
but the claustrophobia of their lives
belonging to older men, lingers.
What’s truly amazing is that Fox makes readers see and feel so much in a scattering of words across the page. Every single word counts. Every single stanza startles the reader into awareness and makes the streets of Mexico City pop into dazzling focus. As a novel in verse, ON WINGS OF SILENCE is a visual story as much as a verbal one, where looking at each page before and while reading is an experience in itself. As seventeen-year-old Diana is allowed to explore her freedom and define herself, the structure of the verses on the page often reflects Diana’s emotions: an inconsistent spacing of words as Diana is hesitant, a compact block of text as she is angry, a cascade of letters as she falls into despair. Impactful. Powerful. My descriptions cannot do justice to Dede Fox’s story and style.
Her sweet spirit reminds me
of my unearned good fortune:
to be born in a different place
with parents who allow me so much freedom
and would never sell any part of me.
Through the characters of Diana, her roommates, and their Mexican boyfriends, readers peek into a past that shows how much the world has changed and stayed the same. These young adults are longing for things they just barely understand and for those things they understand too well. Their eyes are wide open, but their collective vision is sometimes clouded by their notions of invincibility and naivety. Dede Fox perfectly captures it all and leaves the reader longing, too. Perhaps the longing will be for bygone youth or to spread one’s wings; or perhaps the longing will be for peace and love to defeat violence and hate. But one thing is certain: after reading ON WINGS OF SILENCE, we’re all left longing for more stories from Dede Fox.
Thank you to the author and Lone Star Book Blog Tours for providing me a print copy in exchange for my honest opinion -- the only kind I give. This full review and more special features on Hall Ways Blog.
Maybe being loved isn’t a magical charm
that saves us from a terrible fate.
Maybe our loving someone,
knowing what they’d want for us,
simply helps us become braver, stronger.
ON WINGS OF SILENCE is a coming of age story and a historical novel, but it’s so much more. With the talent of author and poet Dede Fox, readers are transported back to 1968 and into the vibrant but tumultuous culture of Mexico City, just as the Olympics are set to begin. Those who know their history understand the nuances of this setting and the significance of events that happened at the Olympic games that year. Next level scholars may even recall the political climate of Mexico and the massacre at Tlatelalco just before the games began – a blip in the history books, if mentioned at all, but a blip that becomes horrifying and feels too familiar, sickening and personal, upon reading about it in ON WINGS OF SILENCE. The parallels to what’s happening now, fifty years later won’t go unnoticed: Russians influencing citizens of another country, the United States supplying weapons to fight someone else’s battle, peaceful gatherings shattered by bullets. History repeating itself again and again.
A cool shower washes away the sweat
but the claustrophobia of their lives
belonging to older men, lingers.
What’s truly amazing is that Fox makes readers see and feel so much in a scattering of words across the page. Every single word counts. Every single stanza startles the reader into awareness and makes the streets of Mexico City pop into dazzling focus. As a novel in verse, ON WINGS OF SILENCE is a visual story as much as a verbal one, where looking at each page before and while reading is an experience in itself. As seventeen-year-old Diana is allowed to explore her freedom and define herself, the structure of the verses on the page often reflects Diana’s emotions: an inconsistent spacing of words as Diana is hesitant, a compact block of text as she is angry, a cascade of letters as she falls into despair. Impactful. Powerful. My descriptions cannot do justice to Dede Fox’s story and style.
Her sweet spirit reminds me
of my unearned good fortune:
to be born in a different place
with parents who allow me so much freedom
and would never sell any part of me.
Through the characters of Diana, her roommates, and their Mexican boyfriends, readers peek into a past that shows how much the world has changed and stayed the same. These young adults are longing for things they just barely understand and for those things they understand too well. Their eyes are wide open, but their collective vision is sometimes clouded by their notions of invincibility and naivety. Dede Fox perfectly captures it all and leaves the reader longing, too. Perhaps the longing will be for bygone youth or to spread one’s wings; or perhaps the longing will be for peace and love to defeat violence and hate. But one thing is certain: after reading ON WINGS OF SILENCE, we’re all left longing for more stories from Dede Fox.
Thank you to the author and Lone Star Book Blog Tours for providing me a print copy in exchange for my honest opinion -- the only kind I give. This full review and more special features on Hall Ways Blog.
May 5, 2019
(This review can be found on my blog All the Ups and Downs.)
-
I'm a fan of books written in verse. There's just something special about them that calls out to me. When I first heard about On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68 by Dede Fox, the synopsis intrigued me. When I heard that it was written in verse, it was then that I knew I had to read this book. I ended up loving this book.
I will admit that I had never heard of the Tlatelolco Massacre before I read On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68. The plot does a fantastic job of explaining the massacre to those who know nothing about it. It was also interesting to read about Diana's time in Mexico as an American university student. Everything is told through Diana's perspective. This book made me want to research more about the Tlatelolco Massacre that the Mexican government tried to keep hushed up.
The prose in On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68 was done beautifully and perfectly. Every word elicited all kinds of feelings whilst reading this book. Because this novel was written in verse, it really drove those feelings home and made them feel more realistic. I think I experienced a total spectrum of feelings while reading On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68. Some readers may have a little trouble with some of the Spanish in this book, but there are enough context clues to figure out what is being said.
I really cared and felt for Diana, the main character in On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68. Diana was such an authentic and fleshed out character which can sometimes be a challenge in books written in verse. Dede Fox made character writing appear easy! My heart felt so full while Diana was falling in love with Guillermo. I felt as if I was falling in love at the same time. When Guillermo went missing while on the phone with Diana, I felt such panic. Her search for her boyfriend felt as if it was my search. I was worried for Guillermo as if he was a real person instead of a fictional character. (Sadly, as this book is based on an actual historical event, I imagine that feeling was all too real for many people.) I lived in hope Guillermo would turn up at some point. I'll just leave it at that because you'll have to read the book in order to find out Guillermo's fate. Diana was such a strong female character as well. I really admired her. Natalie and Melinda, Diana's roommates, were likable characters, but we don't get much of a backstory on them. I feel as if this was done on purpose so the reader could really focus more on Diana's story.
The pacing was done fantastically! I devoured this book in one sitting. I couldn't get enough. Each word flowed beautifully into the next, and I was left captivated and hungry for more of the story.
Trigger warnings for On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68 include attempted rape, sexual assault, violence (although not graphic), drinking, some minor profanities in English and Spanish, and political corruption.
Overall, On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68 is a beautifully written piece of literature that will leave its reader with a plethora of feelings as well as a history lesson. I would definitely recommend On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68 by Dede Fox to everyone 16+.
--
(Thanks to the Dede Fox for providing me with a paperback of On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68 in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)
-
I'm a fan of books written in verse. There's just something special about them that calls out to me. When I first heard about On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68 by Dede Fox, the synopsis intrigued me. When I heard that it was written in verse, it was then that I knew I had to read this book. I ended up loving this book.
I will admit that I had never heard of the Tlatelolco Massacre before I read On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68. The plot does a fantastic job of explaining the massacre to those who know nothing about it. It was also interesting to read about Diana's time in Mexico as an American university student. Everything is told through Diana's perspective. This book made me want to research more about the Tlatelolco Massacre that the Mexican government tried to keep hushed up.
The prose in On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68 was done beautifully and perfectly. Every word elicited all kinds of feelings whilst reading this book. Because this novel was written in verse, it really drove those feelings home and made them feel more realistic. I think I experienced a total spectrum of feelings while reading On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68. Some readers may have a little trouble with some of the Spanish in this book, but there are enough context clues to figure out what is being said.
I really cared and felt for Diana, the main character in On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68. Diana was such an authentic and fleshed out character which can sometimes be a challenge in books written in verse. Dede Fox made character writing appear easy! My heart felt so full while Diana was falling in love with Guillermo. I felt as if I was falling in love at the same time. When Guillermo went missing while on the phone with Diana, I felt such panic. Her search for her boyfriend felt as if it was my search. I was worried for Guillermo as if he was a real person instead of a fictional character. (Sadly, as this book is based on an actual historical event, I imagine that feeling was all too real for many people.) I lived in hope Guillermo would turn up at some point. I'll just leave it at that because you'll have to read the book in order to find out Guillermo's fate. Diana was such a strong female character as well. I really admired her. Natalie and Melinda, Diana's roommates, were likable characters, but we don't get much of a backstory on them. I feel as if this was done on purpose so the reader could really focus more on Diana's story.
The pacing was done fantastically! I devoured this book in one sitting. I couldn't get enough. Each word flowed beautifully into the next, and I was left captivated and hungry for more of the story.
Trigger warnings for On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68 include attempted rape, sexual assault, violence (although not graphic), drinking, some minor profanities in English and Spanish, and political corruption.
Overall, On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68 is a beautifully written piece of literature that will leave its reader with a plethora of feelings as well as a history lesson. I would definitely recommend On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68 by Dede Fox to everyone 16+.
--
(Thanks to the Dede Fox for providing me with a paperback of On Wings of Silence: Mexico '68 in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)
May 15, 2019
On Wings of Silence Mexico ’68 – My Book Review
“They kill people-young-old
who only want to speak their truth.
There are never enough tears.
to wash away the crimson blood.”
As I’m driving in unexpected rain, a Chris Issak song, “Somebody’s Crying” comes on and immediately I’m transported back to the book I’ve been reading, On Wings of Silence Mexico ‘68. The song echoed back perfectly to the main character in this book, Diana and her brief time in Mexico. I know it sounds odd connecting to a character in a book through a song but Issak’s song allowed me in that brief span of welcome rain to connect to Diana’s loss, longing, and the silent tears she shed all in the span of a short time while in Mexico.
This is my first book of verse and it was a powerful read. Each word flowed into the next and carried the story poignantly. Author Dede Fox immediately transported me into the story quickly regarding Diana’s journey in Mexico City.
On Wings of Silence is a mixture of simple and complex stanza verse-forms mainly told by the voice of Diana and other character dialogue. The narration and descriptions reminded me of my own brief time I spent in Mexico and was very true to life.
The most poetic stanza that deeply affected me was the Day of the Dead where it talks about the church bells tolling, summoning of spirits, the clacking of bones, the placing of marigolds, and the swallowing of unshed tears.
On Wings of Silence is a haunting, potent story. This is another book that adds to my history knowledge about the little-known event called the Tlatelolco massacre in 1968 in Mexico City where an unknown number of unarmed civilians were killed due to rioting over the Olympic games. The games went on like nothing ever happened in Tlatelolco.
Here is a brief video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib7JT...
As I read the last words I’ll forever be haunted by never knowing exactly what happened to Guillermo, just as Diana was making a memorable book. If you’ve never read a story told through verse then I highly recommend you start with On Wings of Silence.
Thank you, Dede Fox, for the book to review for Lone Star Literary Life. Hope to meet you in person someday to get you to autograph it.
“They kill people-young-old
who only want to speak their truth.
There are never enough tears.
to wash away the crimson blood.”
As I’m driving in unexpected rain, a Chris Issak song, “Somebody’s Crying” comes on and immediately I’m transported back to the book I’ve been reading, On Wings of Silence Mexico ‘68. The song echoed back perfectly to the main character in this book, Diana and her brief time in Mexico. I know it sounds odd connecting to a character in a book through a song but Issak’s song allowed me in that brief span of welcome rain to connect to Diana’s loss, longing, and the silent tears she shed all in the span of a short time while in Mexico.
This is my first book of verse and it was a powerful read. Each word flowed into the next and carried the story poignantly. Author Dede Fox immediately transported me into the story quickly regarding Diana’s journey in Mexico City.
On Wings of Silence is a mixture of simple and complex stanza verse-forms mainly told by the voice of Diana and other character dialogue. The narration and descriptions reminded me of my own brief time I spent in Mexico and was very true to life.
The most poetic stanza that deeply affected me was the Day of the Dead where it talks about the church bells tolling, summoning of spirits, the clacking of bones, the placing of marigolds, and the swallowing of unshed tears.
On Wings of Silence is a haunting, potent story. This is another book that adds to my history knowledge about the little-known event called the Tlatelolco massacre in 1968 in Mexico City where an unknown number of unarmed civilians were killed due to rioting over the Olympic games. The games went on like nothing ever happened in Tlatelolco.
Here is a brief video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ib7JT...
As I read the last words I’ll forever be haunted by never knowing exactly what happened to Guillermo, just as Diana was making a memorable book. If you’ve never read a story told through verse then I highly recommend you start with On Wings of Silence.
Thank you, Dede Fox, for the book to review for Lone Star Literary Life. Hope to meet you in person someday to get you to autograph it.
May 19, 2019
“Silence always has the final word.”
As a novel in verse, On Wings of Silence: Mexico ’68 is truly an amazing experience. A simple poem, a novella, or a full-length novel in prose can easily capture the horrifying moments of the Tlatelolco massacre in Mexico City just before the 1968 Olympics. But this novel in verse poetically places you in that exact spot through the eyes of 17-year-old Diana, an American student attending the university for college credits and seizing her independence from the life her parents expect her to choose.
While the 1968 massacre is the backdrop for this story, what takes center stage is all the emotions evoked in a young girl’s heart. The excitement of a foreign city. The refusal to become one of the many women who choose marriage as the only way. The reluctance of falling in love and everything that entails. The joy of falling in love and tasting the cinnamon kisses from a boy named Guillermo. The fear of disappearing, with no one to remember her name.
This story is about lost innocence, but not in the carnal sense. Instead, Diana loses her innocent belief that all people have the right to choose, to speak, to fight back, to demand answers. After the massacre, Diana quickly learns that questions and photos are dangerous, but ignoring the truth is unacceptable.
The unique construction of each verse drops the appropriate emotion into your lap, weighing you down as you absorb the meaning of the words and all the implications of what is happening and could happen and what did happen. For Diana, her first semester at the university in Mexico City is filled with wonder and adjustments. The cultural gap is wide, and the antiquated ideologies on human rights are frightening and bewildering to a girl from the United States. But the massacre rips the blindfold completely off, revealing the ugly truth that using your voice to protest and to question can erase you in the blink of an eye.
The recurring character of the belligerent shoe repairman who repeatedly calls Diana a puta, a whore, for no reason encapsulates the overall theme of this novel in verse. The hatred, the unwarranted judgment, the spitting and name calling all project an overall fear onto an innocuous person in a helpless way to retaliate against the unknown or what cannot be changed. Historically, many people, both protesters and bystanders, at Tlatelolco were silenced forever. But searching for the missing could prove to be just as dangerous. In this novel in verse, through photos and a refusal to forget, Diana becomes ensnared in this web of secrets as she struggles to understand and accept the unthinkable, but becoming disentangled from that web inflicts invisible wounds that may never heal.
Take a moment to brush up on the history of this violent day in 1968, and then immerse yourself in On Wings of Silence: Mexico ’68. Through the words and fluctuating structure, feel the story unfold and sense Diana’s despair at losing her naiveté but never her courage to run on silent feet to expose the veracity of that bloody day through a poignant, quickly taken photograph that fearlessly tells the truth about the day when so many voices were silenced and so many hearts were erased.
As a novel in verse, On Wings of Silence: Mexico ’68 is truly an amazing experience. A simple poem, a novella, or a full-length novel in prose can easily capture the horrifying moments of the Tlatelolco massacre in Mexico City just before the 1968 Olympics. But this novel in verse poetically places you in that exact spot through the eyes of 17-year-old Diana, an American student attending the university for college credits and seizing her independence from the life her parents expect her to choose.
While the 1968 massacre is the backdrop for this story, what takes center stage is all the emotions evoked in a young girl’s heart. The excitement of a foreign city. The refusal to become one of the many women who choose marriage as the only way. The reluctance of falling in love and everything that entails. The joy of falling in love and tasting the cinnamon kisses from a boy named Guillermo. The fear of disappearing, with no one to remember her name.
This story is about lost innocence, but not in the carnal sense. Instead, Diana loses her innocent belief that all people have the right to choose, to speak, to fight back, to demand answers. After the massacre, Diana quickly learns that questions and photos are dangerous, but ignoring the truth is unacceptable.
The unique construction of each verse drops the appropriate emotion into your lap, weighing you down as you absorb the meaning of the words and all the implications of what is happening and could happen and what did happen. For Diana, her first semester at the university in Mexico City is filled with wonder and adjustments. The cultural gap is wide, and the antiquated ideologies on human rights are frightening and bewildering to a girl from the United States. But the massacre rips the blindfold completely off, revealing the ugly truth that using your voice to protest and to question can erase you in the blink of an eye.
The recurring character of the belligerent shoe repairman who repeatedly calls Diana a puta, a whore, for no reason encapsulates the overall theme of this novel in verse. The hatred, the unwarranted judgment, the spitting and name calling all project an overall fear onto an innocuous person in a helpless way to retaliate against the unknown or what cannot be changed. Historically, many people, both protesters and bystanders, at Tlatelolco were silenced forever. But searching for the missing could prove to be just as dangerous. In this novel in verse, through photos and a refusal to forget, Diana becomes ensnared in this web of secrets as she struggles to understand and accept the unthinkable, but becoming disentangled from that web inflicts invisible wounds that may never heal.
Take a moment to brush up on the history of this violent day in 1968, and then immerse yourself in On Wings of Silence: Mexico ’68. Through the words and fluctuating structure, feel the story unfold and sense Diana’s despair at losing her naiveté but never her courage to run on silent feet to expose the veracity of that bloody day through a poignant, quickly taken photograph that fearlessly tells the truth about the day when so many voices were silenced and so many hearts were erased.
May 23, 2019
Fans of historical fiction owe it to themselves to read Dede Fox’s “On Wings of Silence: Mexico ‘68.” In the US, teeming with our own violence & chaos in 1968, brought on by the assassinations of Martin Luther King & Robert Kennedy, the subsequent riots in major cities across the county, the confrontations of the Democratic convention in Chicago, and the huge cultural divides engendered by the ongoing Viet Nam War & the Hippie movement , the tragedies raking place south of our border went by largely unnoticed. Luckily we have in Fox both a first person observer to that time & place, filling her novel with the kind of specific details that place it authentically in time, and a poet, parsing her language succinctly & meaningfully to draw us into story of American students in Mexico & what happens to their Mexican counterparts. We walk with Diana Greene, the story’s heroine, as she glories in her discovery of a new culture, and then struggles to understand & accept less than beautiful aspects of her experience there.
I loved the imagery of the placement of words on the very first page, pulling me into the story.
I loved the imagery of the placement of words on the very first page, pulling me into the story.
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