Sunwing (23 page)

He glanced at Luna. She looked genuinely disappointed. He gritted his teeth. He’d already said no once tonight. He couldn’t face two humiliations in a row.

“All right,” he said. “Just a peek, though, okay?”

KENNETH OPPEL
is the author of many books, including
Airborn,
winner of the Governor General’s Award;
Skybreaker,
winner of the Red Maple Award and the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Award; and the million-copy-selling Silverwing Saga. His most recent novel is
Half Brother.
Kenneth Oppel lives with his wife and three children in Toronto. Visit his website at
www.kennethoppel.com.

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WINNER OF Mr. Christie’s Book Award for 8–11 yr. olds
Canadian Library Association’s Book of the Year for Children
Ruth Schwartz Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature
CBA Libris Award for Best Specialty Book of 2000

NOMINATED FOR 2001/2002
Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award
Hackmatack Atlantic Provinces Readers’ Choice Award

“In
Sunwing
Oppel admirably fulfils his promise of a sequel. The pace is hectic, the villains are dastardly, and the narrative style is that of a series of extremely visual scenes. By book’s end, in a tour-de-force of clever plotting, all is resolved. This book is a natural for the onscreen generation.” —Sarah Ellis,
Quill & Quire

“Filled with high adventure … criss-crossing plotlines keep the story hopping while excellent characterizations make the anthropomorphizing believable.” —
Kirkus Reviews

“Perhaps Oppel’s secret is that he doesn’t write down to children, but shares with them the matters that have troubled him since he was their age … Shade is one of the most plausible non-human narrators ever imagined.” —Val Ross,
The Globe & Mail

“This breathless, special-effects laden adventure will hold its readers, and not just because of its exciting variety. Shade has problems all kids deal with—insecurity, jealousy, desire—here expressed with schoolboy verve.”
—Toronto Star

“Action packed and suspenseful, this continuing adventure can be read on its own, but will appeal most to those fantasy fans who enjoyed the detailed bat world of
Silverwing.” —Booklist

“Oppel’s thrilling saga of a young bat’s journey to find his long-lost father was the first or second pick of most of our panelists.”

—Quill & Quire’s
Best Kids Books of ‘99, #1 Fiction Pick

“As in Brian Jacques’ popular Redwall series, the intertwining story lines, evil villain, and intense action will keep young readers enthralled, but Shade is a more complex character than most Redwallian heroes. The other bats’ characters are also well drawn, particularly Shade’s female sidekick, Marina, and even the sinister jungle bat—horrible as he is—has a strong reason for his villainy. Shade’s dangerous adventures make a memorable impact.”

—The Horn Book Magazine

“While the natural behaviour of bats is realistic, Oppel goes much further to develop a history, folklore, philosophy, and quest for the characters in the story, complete with heroes, villains, and a satisfying conclusion that leaves the world a better place for all concerned.”

—School Library Journal

“There are fantasy sequences capable of captivating both children and adults, and one of the newest is by Kenneth Oppel…. This truly spellbinding sequel combines breathtaking suspense with humorous character development (Shade becomes jealous of Chinook, a handsome hunk of a bat who courts Marina), thought-provoking science (humans trap the bats, tag them with explosive devices and turn them into bat-propelled missiles), and meditations on mythology and religion (the vampire bats have their home under an Aztec pyramid).”

—Michael Thorn,
Literary Review
(UK)

Half Brother
Starclimber
Skybreaker
Airborn
Darkwing
Firewing
Sunwing
Silverwing
Dead Water Zone
The Live-Forever Machine

(For Younger Readers)
The King’s Taster
Peg and the Yeti
Peg and the Whale
Emma’s Emu
A Bad Case of Ghosts
A Strange Case of Magic
A Crazy Case of Robots
A Weird Case of Super-Goo
An Incredible Case of Dinosaurs
A Creepy Case of Vampires

Sunwing Copyright © 2011 by Kenneth Oppel

Published by Collins, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

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EPub Edition AUGUST 2011 ISBN: 978-1-443-41132-5

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

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