Summer Hawk

I think that this Summer Hawk, by Deborah Savage, was extremely well written. From the very start, the book captures and pulls you in. The main character, M. Taylor Armstrong-Brown, is like any normal teenage girl. She isn't that close to her parents, going to move soon, and has to choose what school she really wants to go to. At the beginning, Taylor thought that she wanted to be a reporter. But to get into this school that she really wanted to, she needed a good grade in English. Unfortunately, she got a C. That wasn't going to get Taylor into the school. But her teacher would raise her grade if she wrote an essay for the paper during her summer. At first, Taylor didn't know what to write about. Then she finds a baby hawk stranded in a tree. Taylor then rushes back to get help, and she meets a quiet boy named Rail, who she used to call `a red neck'. Rail and Taylor together rescue the baby hawk and bring her to the `hawk lady', Rhainnon Jefferies. While Rail helped the hawk, Taylor was recording down everything for her essay. Soon Taylor finds that her world has turned upside down and what she no longer wanted what she used to. She then has to discover what she really wants inside. I think that this book was made for teenagers, about that same age as Taylor herself. At that age, most people can connect to what is happening to Taylor, one of the reasons this book draws you in. Taylor seems just like any average teenage girl and is so realistic that everything that happens to her is believable. It makes you think that you aren't the only one with problems, and that everyone has them too. The best part of this book was around then end because Taylor finally figures out what she really wants. Finally she has friends and her mom understands her, and she gets to stay in Hunter's Cap like she wants. Finally Taylor finds the peace that you get when everything is perfect. This is an excellent book. Once you start reading it, there is no way you can put it down. I recommend this book to all teenagers and even young teens. You won't regret it!

Quite like a thunderstorm, a tornado, or a hawk's plunge, Summer Hawk by Deborah Savage captures readers from the instant their eyes hit the page. A teen novel, at first it seems as if Melissa T. Armstrong-Brown's problems are that of every other teen; she's having a bit of trouble at school, she's getting ready to move, and her parents seem distant, or apart from her. It seems as if the novel is going to be ordinary - just like any other teen romance. However, Taylor soon comes across a baby hawk, and from there many different people tie into her life; the quiet boy Rail Bogart, the mysterious "hawk lady" Dr. Rhiannon Jeffries, children from her school, and many more. Taylor's life is suddenly turned upside down with all of these new discoveries, and in them, she has yet to discover herself. What makes this novel fit the teenage audience the most would have to be that - in watching Taylor discover herself - readers get sucked into her. By the time a reader reaches the fourth chapter, their emotions are bound to Taylor's, and - before they realize what is happening, they are whisked away to that windswept hilling, seeing themselves lay out before them. At least, I'm aware that it happened to me. The best chapter would have to be the very last chapter - Chapter 19. In this chapter, you see that things are finally going right for Taylor. She finally found herself, she gets over the intense anger that had been locked up inside of her soul, and she is around those she loves. I won't spill what else happens in this chapter - for I want you to read the book - but this book is finally when Taylor - and the reader - feels fine. This book is excellent. Whether you are a teenager that the directed audience waits for, or an adult looking for a young read, this book will never cease to amaze you. Summer Hawk is certainly a desiring read that - like a windswept hill on a summer's day with a red-tail gliding above you - you will never want to leave.

I first read this book in my early teens, and enjoyed it so much that I read it completely through in one sitting. I love the style, love the characters, and most of all, love having a book that has left a lot out to make it a better book. As I read the previous reviews, I was surprised. There are more than a few unfavorable ones, which really did catch me off guard. Since I haven't read the book in a while, I sat back and thought about the comments and complaints, trying to receive them with an open mind. As it is, I still can't agree. The book is a favorite 'mood' book for me. When its raining outside and I've finished writing one of my own stories, I love to pick it up and re-read the descriptions of the hawk lady (whose name actually inspired me to research the mythology of the goddess Rhiannon)and Taylor's father. In danger of rambling on I have just one last opinion to give-that as a daughter of a separated, and now divoreced mother, I feel a slight connection to Taylor, and maybe this is why I enjoyed the book so much. It helped me to understand myself. Oh, and the fact that I am also a female called Taylor didn't hurt things either!

I have had the unexpected pleasure to have Ms. Savage as my professor for a college class. In that regard, my own personal opinion of the book is also judged by how I have come to know the writer. I could go on and on where and how she came up with ideas, but that is not what you want to really know.In the very beginning I found Taylor to be snobby concerning her views of other classmates and somewhat selfish in trems of her mother,she is a typical teenager. One of the best aspects of the book is how easy it is to watch Taylor progress into a deeper understanding about friendships, family and relationships others have around her. The witness of growth as a reader is easy to relate because there has been a time in all of our lives where we too have gained a new self-awareness. I love the end because there is no happily ever after, just continuing change, which is what life is really about. I think that the goal of any writer is to ensure that there is something worth writing about. It doesn't matter what age you are when you this book, it is just about understanding yourself a little bit more. I love this book and I think that if you give it half a chance and an open mind you will too.

When Taylor M. Armstrong-Brown moved to Hunter's Gap, Pensylvania, she expected to meet only hicks. But when she met Rail, a supposed "redneck," she began to see that there are more to people than just what one sees on the outside. If you are looking for a normal Savage novel, this book will not fit what you are looking for. Although Savage weaved another extraordinary twist into the ending, the Savage-style love story does not apply to this book. Not that I'm saying you shouldn't read it. It is a very well done piece of work, and DS never ceases to amaze me with her plot-twists at the end. A word of advice, though: Savage rambles quite a bit on the subject of journalism. I enjoyed this because I plan to be a journalist someday, but if you aren't interested in the subject, it could get old.