Taylor's father is the gamekeeper on an estate that raises pheasants for sport hunting. The boss, landowner Reg Harris, is a blustering, greedy man who cares only for his own financial success. When several endangered red kites are spotted in the woods on the property, Harris demands that Taylor's father kill them, even though this is illegal. Taylor saves one of the kites' eggs and raises the young bird in secret. This is a very British book. American readers are unlikely to relate to either the setting or the lifestyle. That in itself isn't an insurmountable problem, but there are other difficulties that will limit this book's appeal to young American readers. Although the ecological message is worthy, the tender-hearted will find certain gruesome scenes hard to stomach. The mood is unrelentingly dark, and the characters are pretty one-dimensional. The tone of the book and its theme brings Wringer to mind - not an easy book to handle, either, but one tailored for an American audience.

In "Kite", English author Melvin Burgess strikes a refreshing chord for readers seeking authenticity in animal novels for young adults. The softened world of sentimental animals boosk for children is challenged in this realistic novel about an endangered bird, a red kite. The book was written in collaboration with a wildlife biologist and details are wonderfully vivid and realistic.

Burgess does not tread beyond the bounds of decorum for children 9 and older; rather "Kite" is quick-paced, amusing, and heart-warming.. The main characters opt at the end of the novel to care for a wild animal who will never be returned to the wild - a major committment, as any animal owner recognizes. And although there is violence to animals, it is committed by the villain, who represents old beliefs which only the misguided could adhere to given the peril to wildlife in the present day.

The main character is sensitive, caring, and conflicted. The book will appeal most to children whose parents have dealt with harsh realities, such a killing animals for food or livelihood yet loved animals at the same time, and had to explain their values to their children. Major conflict in the novel occurs between the son and father, gamekeeper for the landowner, who runs the hunt. To disagree, the father must condone his employer's actions or lose his position, and his home.

The paradox of killing animals for food is set baldly against the killing of animals for sport or money. Set in England, the book's endangered animal is a red kite. Killing kites has recently been made illegal, but some locals still view kites as "vermin." The landowner Harris prizes his game birds, the pheasants, because he makes his living from hunters' fees for killing them. But Harris' cruel actions alienate even the hunters and eventually provokes the young boy's father to side with his son in the fight for the kite's life.

The books is not bleak, despite the seriousness of its message. Descriptions of the kite's awkward growing stages are humorous and memorable. Close attention to detail of bird behavior shows throughout. And finally, we learn the red kite populations burgeoned in the years of violence in England. Pecking the bodies of the dead was among the actions that gave this bird an odious reputation, much like the US condor or buzzard - a carrion animal. And yet, Burgess chose the kite to deliver his message.

Burgess' book distills some of the ecological/environmental issues that face English, Americans, and people of all countries - whether to adhere to the old ways (which were necessary then but are no longer, and are in fact detrimental) or to view with clear eyes the need to preserve all individuals in the biosphere for the parts they play in keeping the whole healthy.