Wenny Has Wings

When eleven year old Will North wakes up in the hospital, he is confused and sad. You see, he died along with his little sister, Wenny, when a truck ran them over. He remembers dying and speeding through a tunnel towards a light. He also remembers flying through the air with Wenny. However, only Will came back. Suffering from serious injuries, Will begins to write letters to Wenny as he recuperates in the hospital. As Will uses a journal given to him by a church youth leader, he learns to express the feelings he can’t share with anyone else.

Not that anyone is listening. His parents can barely stand to look at each other let alone talk to Will. Unable to talk to his parents and friends about his near-death experience, Will finds show more comfort in writing to Wenny. As time passes Will writes to Wenny less and less. He returns to school and helps his friend, Gallagher Krumley, face the challenge of going through the Tunnel of Death. During this time Will’s father seems to struggle the most with Wenny’s death and his feelings of guilt. However, with a new baby on the way, the family must learn to move on while still holding Wenny’s memory dear to their hearts.

The Bottom Line: Wenny Has Wings is a beautiful story of love, loss, grief, and acceptance told in the form of letters written by the surviving sibling. Author Janet Lee Carey's writing is magical as she takes the reader through one boy’s journey to come to terms with his sister's death. Highly recommended for kids in Grades 4 and up, especially for those coping with grief and death issues. This is a very quick read. Also, highly recommended for writers looking for an excellent example of an epistolary novel. I hope to read more of Carey’s books in the future.

This review also appears at the Mini Book Bytes Book Review Blog. show less

A beautiful book, with some parallels to "Mick Harte Was Here." An accident claims the life of Wenny and seriously injures her big brother. The narrative is a series of letters he writes to her, exploring his grief, the effects on their parents, and his deep survivor's guilt. A great story.

This is a beautiful book! I picked this off the library shelf on a whim, and I am so glad I did!

An amazing story. Will felt he hated his little sister, Wenny. But when she passes away, Will writes letters to his dead sister.

this book is about two syblings named will and wenny who both get hit by a truck.will survives,but wenny dies at the age of seven!will's whole family is really sad because wenny died and will is in the hospital.so, they get a preacher to visit will.the preacher gives will a book to write in so, he writes letters to wenny in that book.this book shows what its like when a family looses a child.

Wenny has Wings is a wonderful heart warming sensation. A brief introduction would be an eleven year old boy and his seven year old sister go to thee hardware store and get some parts for a derby cart but a tragedy happens and you read the diary entrys and learn about a near death experience. this is the best book i have ever read in my life