Silverwing - Kenneth Oppel

Silverwing
Kenneth Oppel (blog)
Harper Collins - Browse Inside
ISBN 9780006481799

When I first read this book 10 years ago it blew me away. I was in university at the time, and doing a children's lit course, and read a number of award winners to supplement the 15 or so books we read for the course. This book was one I picked up that summer and I have been a huge fan of Kenneth Oppel ever since. This story is a coming-of-age story; it is the story of Shade a young silverwing bat who is the runt in his colony. During the annual migration to the colony's winter roost, he is separated from his friends and family. Shade sets out to find his colony and alone and desperate he braves the outside world. As winter approaches he must find his colony or a safe haven quickly, or else he will perish.

This book is very well written, told in the black and white world of a bat and echo vision. The story is fascinating and the adventure runs non-stop. The first time I read this I could not put it down. This time through I took it a little slower and really savoured the book. It won 11 literary awards and has numerous sequels now. Pick it up for an excellent read.

The Silverwing Saga
Silverwing
Sunwing
Firewing
Darkwing

Books by Kenneth Oppel:

Half Brother (2010)
The Devil's Cure (2000)
Dead Water Zone (1992)
The Live-Forever Machine (1990)

Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein
This Dark Endeavour (2011)
Such Wicked Intent (2012)

Airborn Series
Airborn (2004)
Skybreaker (2005)
Starclimber (2008)

Children's Fiction:

The King's Taster (2009)
Peg and the Yeti (2004)
Peg and the Whale (2000)
Emma's Emu (1995)
Galactic Snapshots (1993)
Cosmic Snapshots (1993)
Follow That Star (1992)
Cosimo Cat (1990)
Colin's Fantastic Video Adventure (1985)

Barnes and the Brains
A Bad Case of Ghosts (1993)
A Strange Case of Magic (1994)
A Crazy Case of Robots (1994)
An Incredible Case of Dinosaurs (1994)
A Weird Case of Super-Goo (1997)
A Creepy Case of Vampires (2002)