Florence D'Angelo

So, some may ask, “What genre does The Balance of Wings fall into?” and at first glance it is clearly a fantasy novel. But if you look further and know some of the background, it is also part biography of an old house, the one I live in, and the characters other than the tooth fairies are my family appearing in scenes that actually happened. Can there be a novel that is a fantastical biography of a house? I suppose yes because The Balance of Wings is in part just that. Surely the book is unique.

My house is about 175 years old and part of the fascination about it is the mystery that lies behind walls during renovations. What person stuffed the towel in there to insulate against the draft? What animal left the cache of uneaten acorns? How old is that mouse skeleton? How did that bat get in there? There are stories there for sure and I drew on those possibilities in writing this story.

It is true that my middle child asked the tooth fairy’s name and, because I love telling ridiculous stories and like to draw, the story of Denteena was born. Some of the exchanged notes between Tori, Sal and Denteena, and Dentonio have survived disposal and these index cards and envelopes with penciled words and illustrations have been saved to savor and laugh about in the future.

Tori challenged me to write our stories down and so I did.

The vocabulary used in the book is often geared for older and better readers. These readers will see the story on a more mature level. They will see the characters as independent beings who love freedom. Through the tooth fairies, they might see themselves in early boy/girl friendships that later turn into innocent first romances. There are topics for discussion embedded in the novel. “What makes something real? What is freedom? What worlds are there that are beside us, and yet beyond human perception? How many dimensions to this world are there?”

The novel also works as a read aloud. As an elementary school teacher for many years, I have read countless stories to my classes. I know what works and what does not. Children love dialog and a proper reading with voice inflections, varied volume, pauses, and emphasized wording captures a child’s attention raising it beyond the difficulty some vocabulary words the child might not recognize. I’ll even prove it.

I have recorded the first chapter, (hiding in Tori’s now unused bedroom to escape the barking of the dogs, the tweeting of the birds) and offer it you to see if your child becomes engaged with the story.

See the link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15viACXTjjQ6Oy7elaAMMog7dXtvA8FWj/view?usp=sharing

And if your child does believe my story, as I am guessing will be true, you will want to download my letter to your child from Denteena and Dentonio, found here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HXWmZUJvwUibLXZKzwapJIffu5Ab-w5X/view?usp=sharing

And then you can create your own personal story from there if you choose.

I purposely limited my description of the tooth fairies, nor did I include any illustrations of them. I left these descriptions up to the reader. Who better to visualize them?

Imagination is a beautiful thing. The Balance of Wings will encourage its growth.