We Never Asked for Wings by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

From the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Language of Flowers comes her much-anticipated new novel about young love, hard choices, and hope against all odds. For fourteen years, Letty Espinosa has worked three jobs around San Francisco to make ends meet while her mother raised her children--Alex, fifteen, and Luna, just six--in their tiny apartment on a forgotten spit of wetlands near the bay. But now Letty's parents are returning to Mexico, and Letty must step up and become a mother for the first time in her life. Navigating this new terrain is challenging for Letty, especially as Luna desperately misses her grandparents and Alex, who is falling in love with a classmate, is unwilling to give his mother a chance. Letty comes up with a plan to help the family escape the dangerous neighborhood and heartbreaking injustice that have marked their lives, but one wrong move could jeopardize everything she's worked for and her family's fragile hopes for the future. Vanessa Diffenbaugh blends gorgeous prose with compelling themes of motherhood, undocumented immigration, and the American Dream in a powerful and prescient story about family. Praise for We Never Asked for Wings Deftly blends family conflict with reassurance: Wings is like Parenthood with class and immigration issues added for gravitas.--People (Book of the Week) This poignant story will stay in readers' hearts long after the last page. . . . Diffenbaugh weaves in the plight of undocumented immigrants to her tale of first- and second-generation Americans struggling to make their way in America. Moving without being maudlin, this story avoids the stereotypes in its stark portrayal of mothers who just want the best for their children.--RT Book Reviews (Top Pick) Diffenbaugh is a storyteller of the highest order: her simple but poetic prose makes even this most classically American story sing with a special kind of vulnerable beauty.--Bustle [A] gripping, heartfelt exploration of a mother's love, resilience and redemption.--Family Circle Satisfying storytelling . . . Diffenbaugh delivers a heartwarming journey that mixes redemption and optimistic insight [and] confirms her gift for creating shrewd, sympathetic charmers.--Kirkus Reviews Editorial Reviews 08/01/2015 Diffenbaugh's second novel (after the best-selling The Language of Flowers) is the immigrant story of Letty Espinoza, a single mother who hasn't had to act like a mother a day in her life. Her two children, Alex and Luna, have been faithfully cared for by Letty's mother, up until she abandons them in the middle of the night to seek out her husband in Mexico. Distraught, Letty leaves the children unattended just as abruptly to drunkenly drive after her mother in a fruitless effort to get her to return. Return she doesn't, and Letty is forced to confront parenthood under the umbrella of poverty and illegal immigration. VERDICT In this novel about hope and working toward a better life despite self-placed obstacles, Letty isn't an overtly likable character, which could be a problem for some readers, but her path is a brave one. Fans of the author's first book won't be disappointed. [See Prepub Alert, 3/30/15.]--Mara Dabrishus, Ursuline Coll. Lib., Pepper Pike, OH - Library Journal 2015-06-04 Question: What kind of parent leaves her two children home alone while she takes off in pursuit of her own mother, who's heading back to Mexico?Answer: A parent like Letty Espinosa, the troubled heroine of Diffenbaugh's (The Language of Flowers, 2011) second novel, who suddenly finds herself flying solo and unready to cope. Love and upbringing, the core themes of Diffenbaugh's bestselling debut, also drive her tightly constructed new novel, which uses its compelling opening to establish Letty's fecklessness, her 14-year-old son Alex's prematurely grown-up sense of responsibility, and 6-year-old daughter Luna's needs. Without her own parents, who have been doing all the child care up till now but whose return to Mexico turns out to be permanent, single mother Letty is going to have to juggle the children, work, and housekeeping by herself for the first time, and to start with, it doesn't go well. But Letty's doubts give way to hope as she switches the children to a better school in San Francisco (admittedly, using a false address) and learns from helpful colleague Rick how to mix cocktails that increase her bartending tips. Letty's story is paralleled with Alex's: he's a clever teenager struggling to avoid his mother's mistakes while falling for classmate Yesenia and coming to know the father Letty hid from him his whole life. With its hardscrabble setting and undocumented characters, Diffenbaugh's latest is less overtly romantic than her first; it's strong on social issues but sometimes dragged down by a protagonist whose tendency toward self-criticism can be tiring. The tidy plot and satisfying storytelling are winning, though, and ultimately Diffenbaugh delivers a heartwarming journey that mixes redemption and optimistic insight in equal measure. Less schematic and more down to earth than her first novel, Diffenbaugh's latest confirms her gift for creating shrewd, sympathetic charmers. - Kirkus Reviews Deftly blends family conflict with reassurance: Wings is like Parenthood with class and immigration issues added for gravitas.--People (Book of the Week) This poignant story will stay in readers' hearts long after the last page. . . . [Vanessa] Diffenbaugh weaves in the plight of undocumented immigrants to her tale of first- and second-generation Americans struggling to make their way in America. Moving without being maudlin, this story avoids the stereotypes in its stark portrayal of mothers who just want the best for their children.--RT Book Reviews (Top Pick) Diffenbaugh is a storyteller of the highest order: her simple but poetic prose makes even this most classically American story sing with a special kind of vulnerable beauty.--Bustle [A] gripping, heartfelt exploration of a mother's love, resilience and redemption.--Family Circle Satisfying storytelling . . . Diffenbaugh delivers a heartwarming journey that mixes redemption and optimistic insight [and] confirms her gift for creating shrewd, sympathetic charmers.--Kirkus Reviews I was hooked from the first breathtaking pages of We Never Asked for Wings, caring about this exquisitely vulnerable family, hoping right along with them on every page that each heart-rending, impossible choice would lead them somewhere better together.--Lisa Genova, New York Times bestselling author of Still Alice Vanessa Diffenbaugh's We Never Asked for Wings propels us into a mother's heart as she and her family travel down a rocky path to understanding and forgiveness. With breathtaking imagery and lyrical prose, Diffenbaugh makes Letty's growth from a troubled young mother to a responsible woman who learns to put her children first, but also allows herself the possibility of love, entirely believable. Hers is a hard-won victory you will cheer even as you wish this graceful, moving book would never end.--Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Aviator's Wife - From the Publisher Narrators Emma Bering and Robbie Daymond are the best part of this novel, which is unrealistic and abounds with stereotypes. Letty Espinosa had her first baby as a teenager, and her parents raised her children while she worked as a bartender. Things drastically change when her parents suddenly return to Mexico and Letty, at age 33, must care for her kids for the first time. While Bering is ideal as flighty, irresponsible Letty and spirited 6-year-old Luna, she's flawless as Latino parents Maria Elena and Enrique. Daymond inhabits 15-year-old Alex as he copes with school, meets his absent dad, and protects his fragile girlfriend. Daymond and Bering deftly convey compassion for the poor and for immigrants-legal and illegal. However, the novel's contrived conclusion will disappoint many listeners. S.G.B. AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine - AUGUST 2015 - AudioFile