Wings to Soar

Name: Wings to Soar
Brand: Recorded Books
Availability: InStock
Author: Tina Athaide
ISBN: 9798897567966

Author: Tina Athaide

Narrator: Sneha Mathan

Unabridged: 3 hr 48 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 10/07/2025

Categories: Children's Fiction, Children's Poetry, Historical Stories, Children's Social Themes

Synopsis

I. Have. A. Name. "These rich, vivacious lines combine an insistence on self with undaunted hope. A supreme heart-changer."—Rita Williams-Garcia, Newbery Honor, National Book Award, Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, and Coretta Scott King Award Winner It's 1972 and Viva’s Indian family has been expelled from Uganda and sent to a resettlement camp in England, but not all of them made the trip. Her father is supposed to meet them in London, but he never shows up. As they wait for him, Viva, her mother, and her sister get settled in camp and try to make the best of their life there. Just when she is beginning to feel at home with new friends, Viva and her family move out of the camp and to a part of London where they are not welcome. While grappling with the hate for brown-skinned people in their new community, Viva is determined to find her missing father so they can finish their move to Canada. When it turns out he has been sponsored to move to the United States, they have to save enough money to join him. Told in verse, Wings to Soar follows a resilient girl and the friendships she forges during a turbulent time.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Alexander on January 11, 2025

Wings to Soar by Tina Athaide is a historical middle-grade novel in verse that delves into the refugee experience through the eyes of a young girl in the 1970s. The story follows Viva, an Indian girl from Uganda, as she is sent to a resettlement camp in the UK with her family after being uprooted fr......more

Goodreads review by Esther on July 25, 2024

While looking through new releases of children’s books recently, I saw this one come up. I was immediately intrigued—it isn’t often that you come across books about refugees, and also uncommon to come across books set in the 1970s! I was also intrigued once I got into the story—I’ve read very few bo......more

Goodreads review by Ben on March 02, 2024

Wings to Soar is a middle-grade story in verse about a young Indian girl from Ugunda named Viva, who has been displaced to England while her family try to reunite with their father. Issues constantly crop up that prevent the family from moving to Canada, where they're supposed to start a new life. T......more

Goodreads review by Teresa on March 27, 2024

4.5 rounded up to 5 ***** Thank you to NetGalley, Charlesbridge, Charlesbridge Moves, and Tina Athaide for the opportunity to read Wings to Soar in exchange for an honest review. The novel-in-verse style is perfect to tell the refugee experience from the middle grade perspective. I don't quite remembe......more

Goodreads review by Christina on March 23, 2024

"Wings to Soar" by Tina Athaide is a well-researched novel in verse based on the refugee crisis of 1972, when President Idi Amin of Uganda ordered the expulsion of all Ugandan Asians in the country, many of Indian and Pakistani origins. More than 27,000 emigrated to the UK, many ending up in resettl......more