Walking on Air

By Kelly Easton

Book Overview

But today I dream of falling...into the crowd of God-struck people. The pale leaves of their faces tilt up and their white limbs rise to catch me as I am passed among the river of their hands, one to another, am kept by them, am kept.

-- from Walking on Air

It is the Depression in America, 1931. Twelve-year-old June is a tightrope walker. Performing in her preacher father's revival shows, June travels through cities, makeshift camps, carnivals, and freak shows. The family has no home, no money, no friends -- and faith that is getting thinner than the air upon which June walks. On her journey June examines her life and is torn between loyalty to her family and their religion, and the life she might have. She comes to understand that discovering what the world has in store for her will require facing old family secrets and making some gut-wrenching decisions.

Walking on Air is a stirring novel of self-examination, as June balances on a literal and figurative tightrope within the rich and tormented landscape of America during the Depression. Facing the problems of her day, June must use her wit, fire, and strong spirit in order to triumph.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1442414375
• ISBN13: 9781442414372
• Release Date: May 2010
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 10 to 13 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 8

Customer Reviews

Touching

This is Easton at her best. In this touching portrait of a girl growing up during the Great Depression, Easton combines reality and philosophy, and the result is a heart-warming novel. I'm sure her upcoming novel, Hiroshima Dreams, will also be in this mould, and I look forward to reading it. While you're waiting for that book to come out, I'd also suggest reading "Life History of a Star" - my favourite of all of Easton's books.

depressing, fulfilling, and enraging.

This book is very sad in some parts, because June (the main character) feels out on her own sometimes and, well, like she's walking on air. Even though it is kind of depressing, it's a real page turner, and there are lots of twists in the story. Sometimes I got really furious at June's dad for being so intollerant of other religions. He won't even let June read a book of fairy tales because he thinks it's paganism! I find that very ignorant of him. This is a very fun book to read, and I recommend it.

Best book ever

I loved this book especially the part about June walking on a tightrope and how she does flips and imagines the people below her as a river and how she is happier in the sky than on the ground where everyone is poor and her pa is mean.

Beautiful book

It feels like there's so much confusion about religion and spirituality these days, with lots of horrible things happening in the name of God. This book really gets at that subject as June tries to find her way spiritually while having religion shoved down her throat in a way that's mean. I loved all the bible stories, which made me remember how confused I was when I first read it. Also, it was cool to read about someone not having anything, like during the depression and how they surprised.

A sharp, emotional novel

Travel back to the time of the Great Depression with 12-year-old June and her family. Her father is a preacher, and a highlight of his traveling tent show is June's tightrope act. She can twirl, flip and amaze crowds. But fewer and fewer people can part with money in these hard times, and her parents are tense and stretched to the limit in every way. They make a wrong turn in Detroit, where her father is imprisoned for five months.While they wait for him to be released, June is allowed to go to school and live in a house with her mother and Rhett, a longtime friend of her mother's. She actually has friends and a teacher she likes. Her mother finds a job, and June relaxes into this life with a newfound sense of security.But then her father is released, and all he wants to do is return to the tent shows. When her mother becomes ill and hospitalized, June knows it's decision time. And where is Rhett? He has always turned up to help them through bad times in the past. Who is he really?June must choose what is right for her in the presence of the three confused adults who make up her family. Where does she belong?The setting of the desperate 1930s richly comes alive in this moving novel. June's struggle to find herself is applicable to young people in any time, but the struggle to survive in the Depression brings it into sharp focus. --- Reviewed by Amy Alessio