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Wings (Aprilynne Pike)
Encyclopedia
Wings is the debut, young-adult faerie novel by author Aprilynne Pike
. It is the first of four books about a fifteen-year-old girl who discovers she is a faerie sent among humans to guard the gateway to Avalon
.
Wings was released in the US, UK, & Canada on May 5, 2009, and became a New York Times Best Seller
in its first week of sales, reaching #1 on the Children's Chapter Books list in its second week. It was also a Publishers Weekly
Bestseller and made Pike the best-selling non-celebrity children's author to debut in 2009. Wings went on to become an international bestseller in 2010.
The sequel to Wings, Spells, was released on May 4, 2010. The third book in the series, Illusions
, was released May 3, 2011.
and the Redwood National and State Parks
, where she was homeschooled
by her hippie
parents, Sarah and Mark. So when she moves to Crescent City, California
to attend public school, Laurel has some adjustments to make. The reason for them to move is because of her father buying a bookstore, which was always a dream for the both of her parents. While she misses being outdoors all the time, she's getting along pretty well at her new school and soon befriends David, a handsome and sweet boy who understands Laurel and her strict vegan
diet. Things are looking up until a bump between Laurel's shoulders sprouts into a giant flower on her back.
Hesitant to confide her recent affliction to her parents, Laurel seeks help from David, and together they investigate the strange phenomenon of her "wings" or blossom. Their only clue is that when she was about three years old, she was found on her parents' doorstep in a basket, with no knowledge of where she came from. It turns out that Laurel is actually a more advanced evolution of a plant; more or less a faerie. The two soon discover that Laurel's whole body is of plant cells and that she is a plant.
On a trip back to the family home, Laurel's world is forever changed when she encounters Tamani. Laurel finds herself inexplicably drawn to him, and he provides many of the answers she has been seeking. It turns out she’s not even human; like Tamani, she’s a fairy. As a scion, a fairy sent to the humans, she was sent to her parents to inherit their land, which holds something very important to the fairies. This plan is nearly thwarted when Laurel’s family moves and puts the land up for sale. The gate to Avalon
, which the faeries have protected for ages, is now threatened, and Laurel must help save the faeries' secret, protect her family, sort out her confused feelings for David and Tamani, and figure out her own identity—and her place in both worlds.
. Meyer endorsed Pike's work via a cover blurb, which reads, "Aprilynne Pike's Wings is a remarkable debut; the ingenuity of the mythology
is matched only by the startling loveliness with which the story unfolds." Booklist
wrote, "This first novel is clearly designed to attract the Twilight
set, though there’s significantly less edge (and blood). There is, however, a familiar triangle
. . . . Fine escapist
fare, this neatly mixes the everyday with the otherworldly." Romantic Times awarded Wings a "Top Pick," calling it "an enthralling story of danger and love. This re-interpretation of the faerie story is one that will captivate readers with its plausibility and imagination."
, Wings will be published in twenty-one languages.
Aprilynne Pike
Aprilynne Pike is an internationally best-selling American author best known for her debut novel Wings, which was released in English on May 5, 2009. Her first novel debuted as a New York Times best-seller, and reached the #1 spot on the Children's Best Seller list, making Pike the best-selling...
. It is the first of four books about a fifteen-year-old girl who discovers she is a faerie sent among humans to guard the gateway to Avalon
Avalon
Avalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudohistorical account Historia Regum Britanniae as the place where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged and later where Arthur was...
.
Wings was released in the US, UK, & Canada on May 5, 2009, and became a New York Times Best Seller
New York Times Best Seller list
The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. It is published weekly in The New York Times Book Review magazine, which is published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times and as a stand-alone publication...
in its first week of sales, reaching #1 on the Children's Chapter Books list in its second week. It was also a Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
Bestseller and made Pike the best-selling non-celebrity children's author to debut in 2009. Wings went on to become an international bestseller in 2010.
The sequel to Wings, Spells, was released on May 4, 2010. The third book in the series, Illusions
Illusions (Pike novel)
Illusions is the third book in the New York Times best-selling Wings series by Aprilynne Pike. It follows Pike's #1 New York Times best-selling debut, Wings, which introduced readers to Laurel Sewell, a faerie sent among humans to guard the gateway to Avalon, and the direct sequel, Spells.-Plot...
, was released May 3, 2011.
Plot summary
Fifteen-year-old Laurel has lived her whole life on her family's land near Orick, CaliforniaOrick, California
Orick is a census-designated place situated on the banks of the Redwood Creek in Humboldt County, California. It is located north of Eureka, at an elevation of 26 feet . The ZIP Code is 95555...
and the Redwood National and State Parks
Redwood National and State Parks
The Redwood National and State Parks are located in the United States, along the coast of northern California. Comprising Redwood National Park and California's Del Norte Coast, Jedediah Smith, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Parks , the combined RNSP contain...
, where she was homeschooled
Homeschooling
Homeschooling or homeschool is the education of children at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school...
by her hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
parents, Sarah and Mark. So when she moves to Crescent City, California
Crescent City, California
Crescent City is the county seat and only incorporated city in Del Norte County, California. Named for the crescent-shaped stretch of sandy beach south of the city, Crescent City had a total population of 7,643 in the 2010 census, up from 4,006 in the 2000 census...
to attend public school, Laurel has some adjustments to make. The reason for them to move is because of her father buying a bookstore, which was always a dream for the both of her parents. While she misses being outdoors all the time, she's getting along pretty well at her new school and soon befriends David, a handsome and sweet boy who understands Laurel and her strict vegan
Veganism
Veganism is the practice of eliminating the use of animal products. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans or strict vegetarians eliminate them from their diet only...
diet. Things are looking up until a bump between Laurel's shoulders sprouts into a giant flower on her back.
Hesitant to confide her recent affliction to her parents, Laurel seeks help from David, and together they investigate the strange phenomenon of her "wings" or blossom. Their only clue is that when she was about three years old, she was found on her parents' doorstep in a basket, with no knowledge of where she came from. It turns out that Laurel is actually a more advanced evolution of a plant; more or less a faerie. The two soon discover that Laurel's whole body is of plant cells and that she is a plant.
On a trip back to the family home, Laurel's world is forever changed when she encounters Tamani. Laurel finds herself inexplicably drawn to him, and he provides many of the answers she has been seeking. It turns out she’s not even human; like Tamani, she’s a fairy. As a scion, a fairy sent to the humans, she was sent to her parents to inherit their land, which holds something very important to the fairies. This plan is nearly thwarted when Laurel’s family moves and puts the land up for sale. The gate to Avalon
Avalon
Avalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudohistorical account Historia Regum Britanniae as the place where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged and later where Arthur was...
, which the faeries have protected for ages, is now threatened, and Laurel must help save the faeries' secret, protect her family, sort out her confused feelings for David and Tamani, and figure out her own identity—and her place in both worlds.
Awards and nominations
- An IndieBound Spring 2009 Indie Next List pick
- An American Library AssociationAmerican Library AssociationThe American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
"Best Books for Young AdultsYoung Adult Library Services AssociationThe Young Adult Library Services Association , established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. The mission of YALSA is to advocate, promote and strengthen service to young adults as part of the continuum of total library service, and to support those who provide service to...
" nominee - A Romantic Times "Best Young Adult Paranormal/Fantasy Novel" nominee
- A Cybils AwardsCybils AwardsThe Cybils Awards, or Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards, are a series of book awards given by children's and young adult book bloggers...
Fantasy/Science Fiction nominee - A Whitney AwardsWhitney AwardsThe Whitney Awards are awards given annually for novels by LDS authors. The Whitney Awards are a semi-independent non-profit organization affiliated with the LDStorymakers, a guild for LDS authors.-Categories:There are currently seven genre categories:...
"Best Speculative Fiction" finalist
Critical reception
Wings debuted to positive reviews overall, with comparisons to the Twilight Saga by Stephenie MeyerStephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer is an American author known for her vampire romance series Twilight. The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition and sold over 100 million copies globally, with translations into 37 different languages...
. Meyer endorsed Pike's work via a cover blurb, which reads, "Aprilynne Pike's Wings is a remarkable debut; the ingenuity of the mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
is matched only by the startling loveliness with which the story unfolds." Booklist
Booklist
Booklist is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. It is geared toward libraries and booksellers and is available in print or online...
wrote, "This first novel is clearly designed to attract the Twilight
Twilight (novel)
Twilight is a young-adult vampire-romance novel by author Stephenie Meyer. It is the first book of the Twilight series, and introduces seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan, who moves from Phoenix, Arizona to Forks, Washington and finds her life in danger when she falls in love with a vampire,...
set, though there’s significantly less edge (and blood). There is, however, a familiar triangle
Love triangle
A love triangle is usually a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two...
. . . . Fine escapist
Escapism
Escapism is mental diversion by means of entertainment or recreation, as an "escape" from the perceived unpleasant or banal aspects of daily life...
fare, this neatly mixes the everyday with the otherworldly." Romantic Times awarded Wings a "Top Pick," calling it "an enthralling story of danger and love. This re-interpretation of the faerie story is one that will captivate readers with its plausibility and imagination."
Translations
In addition to the English language editions published by HarperTeen and HarperCollinsHarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
, Wings will be published in twenty-one languages.
| Language | Publisher | Title | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | German German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.... | Verlagsgruppe Random House | Elfenkuss |
| 2. | Portuguese Portuguese language Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095... | Editora Bertrand (Brazil) Bertrand (Portugal) |
Wings: O Beijo dos Elfos |
| 3. | Estonian Estonian language Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities... | Kirjastus Pegasus | |
| 4. | Hebrew Hebrew language Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such... | Matar Publishing House | כנפיים |
| 5. | French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts... | Editions ADA (Canada) Pocket Jeunesse (France) |
Ailes |
| 6. | Italian Italian language Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia... | Sperling & Kupfer Editori | Wings |
| 7. | Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the... | Ediciones Urano | Alas |
| 8. | Turkish Turkish language Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,... | Pegasus Yayincilik | |
| 9. | Polish Polish language Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries... | Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie | Skrzydła Laurel |
| 10. | Lithuanian Lithuanian language Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they... | Media Incognito | Sparnai |
| 11. | Russian Russian language Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics... | Exmo | Крылья |
| 12. | Greek Greek language Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;... | Livanis | Φτερά |
| 13. | Japanese Japanese language is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an... | Take-Shobo | |
| 14. | Croatian Croatian language Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries... | Mozaik Knjiga | Krila |
| 15. | Indonesian Indonesian language Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries.... | PT Gramedia | |
| 16. | Dutch Dutch language Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second... | Standaard | |
| 17. | Hungarian Hungarian language Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe.... | Könyvmolyképző Kiadó | |
| 18. | Bulgarian Bulgarian language Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the... | Studio Art-Line | |
| 19. | Catalan Catalan language Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island... | La Galera | |
| 20. | Macedonian Macedonian language Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora... | Детска радост | Крилја |
| 21. | Dutch Dutch language Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second... | Manteau | Wings |