Pelina, Nicole

December 12, 2016

Period 4

Book Review #2

The Fledgling

Jane Langton

Fiction

182 Pages

Newberry Honor Award

            The novel, The Fledgling, by Jane Langton is about a young girl named Georgie who met a very friendly goose. Georgie was a very weird and silly girl who believed she could fly. Eddy and Eleanor were Georgie's siblings, and they lived with their Aunt Alex and Uncle Freddy.  One day, Georgie met the goose for the first time. However, Mr. Preek believed the goose Georgie loved intended to do bad things to her. Georgie had nicknamed the friendly goose "The Goose Prince". Every night, the Goose Prince would come visit her to fly all the way to Walden Pond. At the pond, Georgie would give small gifts to the Goose Prince. The goose had planned to give her a present as well, but at a later time. One night, the Goose Prince had taught Georgie how to fly. Little did she know, Aunt Alex knew about the goose coming every night to visit Georgie. When the Goose Prince was flying Georgie back home, Mr. Preek had shot Georgie instead of the goose. After that incident, her family never left Georgie alone, and she never interacted with the Goose Prince. A little past midnight, Georgie and the goose reunited again. He had come to give Georgie the present. However, the Goose Prince was an easy target, and he had been shot down by Mr. Preek. Georgie lost the present as well, and was upset for a week. One day, she had finally found the present, and took very good care of it for the Goose Prince.

            I really enjoyed this novel for several reasons. One reason why I liked this book was because it was very heartwarming. Georgie was an innocent girl who dreamed about flying. I also liked how fun it was to read. The plot and setting were enjoyable and very interesting which kept me wanting to read more. However, I also had some dislikes with this book. I disliked the sad parts of the book because they had made me feel empathy for Georgie. She had only been an innocent and quiet girl who had the belief that she could fly. In my opinion, I had also disliked the ending because of how sad it was. Georgie was only a small 8 year old girl who had to experience her favorite Goose Prince getting shot down by a fellow neighbor. One final thing that I did not enjoy was the two characters Miss Prawn and Mr. Preek. I did not like how nosy Miss Prawn was, and I also disliked the fact Mr. Preek believed geese were bad animals for doing absolutely nothing. This book showed the innocence and imagination of a young child, and it also showed the silly dreams and persistence a child has. These are several reasons why I would recommend this book to others.