COURAGE TO FLY

Contrivances and a protracted narrative hamper this Canadian offering about a Caribbean girl struggling to adjust to a northern city. Meg is first met "huddled small inside herself like a frightened bird. Apartment towers were dark fingers blocking the sun." She spends most of her time in her apartment, the only place she feels safe. When she rescues a frozen swallow after a snowstorm, she is later reluctant to set it free from its protective box. Harrison's (Goodbye to Atlantis) lengthy, image-heavy chunks of text—especially sequences about a wise old Chinese man who practices martial arts in Meg's courtyard and whose "gentle eyes seemed to look right into her heart"—might lose the attention of younger readers. Huang (Buddha in the Garden) creates a meaningful contrast between outside scenes, rendered in cool grays and blues, and the warmer, comforting hues found inside Meg's home. While his soft lines, fuzzy edges and muted palette impart a peaceful tone, they don't quicken the drawn-out narrative. Nor are they enough to shake the work from its reliance on clichéd analogy and stereotype. Ages 4-7. (Apr.)