Wing Jones is the story of a girl of Ghanian-Chinese hertiage who has lived her whole life in the shadow of her superstar football-playing brother and discovers a talent for running when her brother is in a car accident and killstwo people whilst drink-driving.
There was lots to like about this book - Wing's talent and dedication to her running was inspiring and uplifting, especially as she persisted despite all odds.
Wing's heritage made for interesting reading and I absolutely loved her grandmothers. I think they were my favourite characters in the whole book and in fact the whole family dynamic was lovely. The thing about her dragon and her lioness confused me - were they real or the embodiment of her ancestry and her strengths?
I also liked the friendships Wing made when she started running (although the running thing confused me - she was a sophomore (?) so presumably she'd been through several years of PE prior to this book. How was it she'd never discovered her ultra-quick running before now??). Wing really develops as a character througout the book and these friendships are a major part of her transformation. Wing's narrative starts out as very childish, but by the end she sounds a lot more mature.
The main thing that annoyed me was how Wing's brother Marcus committed a horrific crime and that crime just seemed to get swept under the carpet at the end of the book:
His court appearance is in six weeks. We all know he's going to to jail. But we got through this; we can get through whatever comes next.'
That is literally all that's said about Marcus's crime. This seems to be an amazing volte face for someone who has just spent *riffles through pages* FIFTY EIGHT CHAPTERS stressing about what her brother has done.
Another thing that annoyed me was the romance. In fact, I'm going to go out on a limb and say the romance did nothing for this book. It didn't move the plot along, it didn't interest me. It was like someone had told the author that because she was writing a YA book so she really really needed to include a love interest and it felt totally shoe-horned in. Plus, I really didn't like Aaron. When he and Wing were kissing in the tent, he tries to go further and she tells him not to and then he sulks. This is not hot, it's creepy. Also, unless I'm reading it wrong, Aaron is eighteen and Wing is fifteen. This is also borderline creepy. Wing sounds very immature when she talks about Aaron- it's all about how gorgeous he is, rather than his personality or what he's like and she's quite possessive of him.
Would I recommend this book? If it's in the library, or if a friend offers it to you, maybe. Not sure I'd go out especially and buy it.
3 stars