"The Falcon's Wing" is Dawna Lisa Buchanan's first children's novel. It's about a twelve-year-old girl named Bryn Cameron who moves from Circleville, Ohio, to Kenmore, Ontario, Canada, with her father. Bryn's mother has died recently and her father and her are coming to live with her mother's sister (Aunt Pearl) and her aunt's fourteen-year-old mentally handicapped daughter (Winnie) on their farm.

Bryn's new family takes some getting used to. She soon learns how nonexistent her mother's relationship had been with her sister: Aunt Pearl didn't know Julia (Bryn's mother) had died, or that Julia had a daughter. Even though her aunt welcomes them in to her home, she doesn't show a lot of interest in them at first and has some difficulty in showing affection. But Bryn knows Aunt Pearl isn't a cold woman; she's witnessed how compassionate her aunt can be when she's around Winnie.

Making friends in the small town soon becomes another obstacle, especially with her cousin tagging along (who some have nicknamed "Snake Girl" because of her slanted eyes). Despite their rudeness and jokes, Bryn still hangs out with the local kids (Cecil, Rita, Ed, Rachel, Virginia), and even saves one of them from drowning in the Castor River.

By the end of the book, Bryn is able to cope better with her mother's death, Rita (the bully), and her aunt and cousin. However, her father still seems to be a little distant. The only chance she has of understanding his loss of his wife is by reading the letters he still writes to Julia.

"The Falcon's Wing" is one of my favorite young adult books. The main characters are believable and I could sympathize with Bryn. The reading level is for ages 9 - 13, but I would recommend this book to anyone interested. Another book I would recommend is "The Summer of the Swans" by Betsy Byars (mentally handicapped family member).

This had to be the first really interesting book that I had ever read. I got the book on a whim and couldn't put it down once I had opened it. No book had ever moved me the way this one book had. The way that Bryn eventually opened up to her Aunt Pearl and cousin Winnie. How she showed that there was nothing to fear or laugh at about a child with Down's Syndrome. Everything can trully work out if you give it time. A distant father can come back out of the shelled he sealed himself in. A cousin can learn to accept their cousin for who they are. And a neice can realize that a seemingly bitter aunt can be one of the best friends that you could ever ask for.