THE HEARTBEATS OF WING JONES by Katherine Webber (March 14, Delacorte) is set in Atlanta and tells the story of Wing Jones and her older brother, Marcus. The local public library placed this title in their Junior High section and it does have a younger feel, beginning with a gentle, lovely swing ride for Wing and Marcus as children. Once high school age, he is a popular football star while she feels like a misfit, too obviously different due in part to their mixed racial heritage (half black, half Chinese). Circumstances change dramatically when Marcus has a car accident and kills two people while driving drunk. He goes into a coma, the family faces financial concerns and Wing copes by beginning to run: "I'm sure somehow my running is keeping Marcus alive, that my footsteps are making his heart beat, way more than the machines that he's hooked up to." School Library Journal recommends THE HEARTBEATS OF WING JONES for Stephanie Perkins' fans; please see the author's website for more review comments about this promising and affirming debut.

Link in online post: http://www.kwebberwrites.com/books/

What a great story about the way a family deals with a terrible situation. Wing Jones idolizes her older brother Marcus; athletic skills, relationship, all around hero. When Marcus drives drunk and kills two people he ends up in a coma and Wing ends up trying to find a way to get though the pain and shock of his imperfections. Socially separated from her peers due to her insecurities, Wing finds herself running the track at night to deal with the stress of her day. She has some serious track skills and when her brothers best friend (and her crush) finds out, the training begins and her life starts to change. This was a sad book but a very hopefully book. Wing is a strong character but she doesn't realize that strength until Aaron and her family pull it out of her. The relationships are very real and believable in this story and I found myself swept into the story, hoping for both Wing and Marcus to survive.

2.5 stars?

I will admit to requesting this strictly off of the comparison to Jandy Nelson. I've never seen FNL, but I'm all for sports and football and Jandy Nelson is an auto-buy. Needless to say, my expectations were quite high...and I think that was my downfall.

I liked Wing well enough. Her voice starts out really young and I did struggle with her inner monologue. However, as the book progresses, she grows and learns more about herself and the tone changed. I loved her grandmothers the most. When they were together, they stole the scene. Wing's infatuation with Aaron got a bit tiresome, but they did have some sweet moments together.

There were a lot of loose plot threads that didn't get resolved and I didn't care for that. When I got to the end, I had a lot of questions. Like, what was the purpose of the mean girl? Why didn't we see her brother get punished, instead of a vague "he's probably going to jail" comment? WITAF was going on with the dragon/lioness? These are things I need to know.

I loved absolutely the diversity aspect and it breaks my heart that I'm rating this so low. Obviously by the high reviews already posted, it just wasn't for me.

**Huge thanks to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for providing the arc free of charge**

The Heartbeats of Wing Jones is a great read when it comes to diversity! Unfortunately, I'm not the reviewer who can tell you if it does a good job truthfully portraying every culture, though. From my perspective, I found the range of diverse characters to be great.

For me, the story was lacking in certain aspects and I honestly think it had a lot to do with the writing. I didn't connect with the story until about halfway through it and that was disappointing. It just felt like a story I've read many times, which is not uncommon for contemporaries, but there's usually at least one element of the book that pulls me in. Also, there's this odd thing with dragons and a lioness, and I wish it was portrayed in a better way.

As for the characters, like I said, they are all interesting and incredibly diverse! I liked Wing, I felt her struggle of being mixed race since I am also, and how she had a hard time fitting in. She was probably the best thing about this book, so that's a plus. The romance actually plays a big role in this story, which is sweet and I enjoyed Aaron a lot.. But it wasn't enough for me to love it?

I feel as if I'm telling you how much I didn't enjoy this book, which is true I didn't fall in love with it.. But I think some people will. It just isn't for me. There's a great range of issues dealing with family, friendships, love, and self-discovery, and I know there will be others who love this book for those reasons! Which is great! :)

Let me tell you about my experience reading this. I knew from a few chapters in that I was reading an amazing book. As I kept going, it just got better and better and better, even when I didn't think that was possible anymore. It took my breath away, it kept my eyes glued to the page, and it shattered my heart into tiny, wonderful pieces. I got to the end. I thought of basically nothing else for four hours. And then I realized that I needed to start right back at the beginning, and guess what? It was even better.

Somehow, though, I'm having trouble articulating why and how much I loved this. I keep trying to put the words together, and I can't think of any better way to say what I'm trying to say, but nothing can come close to the experience of actually reading the book. So this is the part where I tell you to stop reading my blog and get this book in your hands immediately, because nothing will ever compare.

I love books that play with my emotions, and this book did that in the best way possible. Every word went straight to my heart. I felt what Wing felt. Every part of me was drawn into the story, and I think that's why I read it twice - by the end, I'd put so much of myself into reading that I didn't want to let go.

One of this books innumerable amazing qualities was its cast of characters. Every single character was just so perfectly written that I would have been all that surprised to find that they were real by running into them at the grocery store or something. I've been thinking a lot lately about the difference between characters and people, and these characters are somehow just like complete people put on paper. I can't pick a favorite, though Granny Dee and LaoLao are probably my favorite duo. (Why aren't there more grandparents in YA?)

I didn't know about the magical realism elements of this book going into it, so I was a little confused at first. Pretty quickly though, it became one of my favorite parts. (Who am I kidding? The whole thing was my favorite part.) Everything was blended so perfectly that once I got over my initial confusion, I never had to question anything. And really, what book can't be improved by a dragon? And a lion.

Really, though. Read this book. Let it suck you in. And when you're done, you might just have to read it again.

This book deals with many themes such as racial identity, love, family and friendships. I really liked that Wing was able to overcome her insecurities and become a much stronger person!

This is why I generally avoid books about Chinese characters written by non-Chinese authors. I pretty much DNF'd this at 30% and skimmed the rest the book to know if something important happens. This isn't an own voices story, and I probably wouldn't have requested it if I had known. Wing is Chinese from her mother's side and Ghanian from her father's. Her Chinese grandmother she calls LaoLao and her Ghanian grandmother, Granny Dee. Wing's not stick skinny, and she doesn't really have any friends at school, because being biracial in Atlanta means you don't fit in. Well, expect for her older brother, Marcus, the star quarterback bound for the NFL. He fits in with his teammates, Wing is two years younger and eats alone at lunch instead of with her brother and his friends. A late night party causes an accident that changes all of their lives.

Marcus was drunk driving and winded up killing two people, and remains in a coma in the hospital. This is a story of how the people around him deal with his actions. There's Wing and her mother, and two grandmothers, Marcus' girlfriend, Monica, and his best friend (who Wing has been in love with forever), Aaron.

Wing realizes one day that she runs fast, and people around her start suggesting that she might do well running track. But she attributes that to the help of her dragon and lioness. What does that even mean? They're stand-ins for her two grandmothers? It bothers me that this was added in and doesn't seem to add anything to the plot. The only thing it succeeds in is making this seem kind of racist. And let me just say that even though we're told that LaoLao has broken English, the English when she speaks fluctuates between perfect and broken, so you never know which you're going to read. A dragon and a lioness? Well, to be fair, it seems like all the characters wind up being compared to an animal at some point or another. Constantly bringing up the dragon and lioness made me think that there was going to be a sort of mental illness situation being brought into the plot, but that never happened so I think it's supposed to represent Wing's insecurity about herself and she manifests these animals in her mind to...make her feel stronger? Basically, I don't know.

Oh, I don't believe I've mentioned this book is set in 1995. In Atlanta. So...this book is supposed to tie-in to the Summer Olympics that takes place in Atlanta in 1996? There's zero point really in setting this book in 1995, because simply a Google Search will contradict anything "historical" in this book. It's the year 1995 and Wing says that seven years previous she remembers watching Power Rangers on TV. Um. That's impossible, since Power Rangers didn't even become a show in the US until 1993. And the Japanese show it's based off of wasn't even a show until 1992. Also, it looks like the Gladys Knight place the characters eat at didn't even open until 1997. Either way, the timeline doesn't work and I'm a stickler for dates.

The writing, sometimes just doesn't make any sense. It's not purple prose? It just makes me cringe.

"Her eyes soften, melting from the laser blue she was shooting at Heather to gentle blue, like laundry detergent."

"Monica. Shorter than all of us. White. Blond. It is as if every light int he place had landed on her and is making her sparkle. In here, her skin looks so pale she's practically translucent, the way Nicole Kidman looks on the red carpet."

I think this reads like it's for younger teens, which leads me to my next few questions. Why write a book with outdated references that only kids growing up in the 90s (and would be in their late 20s) will even understand? Who is the intended audience for this book? I know this is an ARC (and already published in the UK), but it's weird that the book also jumps from one chapter saying it's New Years and the next chapter, it's Christmas? This is also a strange time (again, it's 1995) to bring up in casual conversation in the South that one of the girls is a lesbian? In 2017, sure, go for it! But wasn't the mid-90s still weird about it all? This revelation also went nowhere, so I'm, again, I am confused.

This book tries hard in many different areas, but doesn't really pull any of it off. This book contains a biracial character as a female athlete, a character who is fat, an interracial relationship, a gay character, a character who killed people due to drunk driving, the ramifications of that, and that's just all I can think of off the top of my head. There's just so much to unpack and this book barely skims the surface of any of it. The Heartbeat of Wing Jones is just a disappointing story and tries too hard to be too many things.

Quick Thoughts and Rating: Actual rating of 3.5 stars! Diversity and culture were an important factor in this book, just as much as Wing's journey to realizing her self-worth and discovering that her outward differences made her better and stronger in some ways. The representation of a multitude of diverse characters this book had to offer had me falling in love with this book, but other aspects kept me from falling for it completely.

♥ Review: *long sigh* Damn, I really really wanted to love this more. They promised me a Jandy Nelson and "Friday Night Lights"-esque book which made it really easy to request this, but sadly I don't really feel like it delivered on either of those aspects.

I absolutely loved that this book was filled with an almost purely POC cast, all except for Wing's older brother's girlfriend who was white. I loved even more that it was a celebrated mix of cultures and skin tones within the POC community. I loved that Wing was a strong character, but also had her vulnerabilities that she wasn't ashamed of admitting–she was tall, curvy, dark-skinned, but so reserved and let people make her feel smaller than she was. I loved watching her break out of that mold even more. I loved how her immediate family consisted of all strong women and her brother, and I loved even more that they were so close, even when they were bickering. I adored the romance and that it was a bit of a slow burn. I really appreciated that this book tackled issues like the racism that existed in 1995, tragedy and how people responded to it differently, repercussions for drunk driving, chasing your passions, finding friends through teammates, and putting relationships on hold when you need to focus on yourself. Webber excelled at focusing on these elements and I feel like they were an important contribution to the story overall.

With that said, I did have a few issues with it. Wing has these two guardians. . .of sorts, a dragon and a lioness. I wasn't sure what to make of them, to be honest. It turns out that they were just a bit of magical realism, but I'm still not positive on what purpose they really served in the story. I supposed I understand that they represented her two grandmothers, one Chinese and one Ghanaian. But at one point, I didn't know if they were spirits, if Wing was hallucinating because they originally appeared in moments of distress, or what was happening to be honest. I felt like it took me out of the moment every single time. I also wasn't a fan of some of the repetitious moments, it felt like it dulled the plot and dragged the pacing. Additionally, there were also a few aspects that felt unnecessary and didn't really go anywhere for me–dangling secondary plotlines , in a away–and that was when one of the grandmothers got hurt and the other was the back-and-forth with the "mean girl." (She really was awful, though.) Lastly, there was the ending and how it felt rushed and unresolved to me. (I'm not a big fan of open endings, nothing really personal against the book or the author.)

Overall, it was a rather quick read and I was engaged, loved some parts of it, but other elements incorporated into the story kept me from falling head over heels for all of it.

♥ Teaser Quote: I'd like to note that while I had wished the romance element had been given a little more page time, Webber definitely nailed that first kiss. #HuminaHumina

"Wing," he breathes, like a wish, like a prayer, and it's as if it is my heart's name and not my own because my heart flutters in my chest, desperate to get out to fly to him.
The best I can do for my poor heart is to press myself even closer to him and hope my heart will heart his, and that will calm it.
...

"Wing," he says again, and it is less of a prayer and a wish and more of a plea and I tilt my head back and look at him, his eyes dark and infinite in the night, and I let my fingers splay on the back of his neck, up against his short, tight curls, and I lean up and press my lips to his.


–quote taken from the eARC of The Heartbeats of Wing Jones


♥ Rec It? More likely than not. I think this book had a lot more to offer in the grander scheme of things, but I just wish the storyline would have been tightened up a bit in other regards. I read this all in one sitting, so it definitely had readability working in its favor. I'm certainly curious about what more this author will have to offer.

♥ A very special thanks to Delacorte Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this title.

I was very excited to read this book. A Chinese/African American heroine who practices self care by running. I was here for it. And then I read the book.

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And ended up doing this throughout the book. There is a lot going on in the book, and without revealing too much, I will try to explain what I liked and didn't like about this book.

The story begins alright enough. Wing is a typical teenager - awkward and unsure of herself - particularly about her big hair and big butt. She's Chinese and African American (...later we learn Ghanaian - but it's only mentioned, and not a part of the story). She doesn't look like anyone else, and relies on the popularity of her older brother Marcus and his beautiful blonde girlfriend, Monica, to get by in school. Wing has a crush on Marcus' best friend, Aaron, and the four go on an outing to Gladys Knight's Chicken and Waffles a staple soul food restaurant in Atlanta. This was my first double take. I'm a 90's kid, and remember hearing about when the famed restaurant opened. It had become a goal of mine to go the restaurant, so I had to recheck the year the story takes place in. The story takes place in 1995. Gladys Knight's restaurant didn't open until 1997. A small thing, I know...but people who know will notice. The scene at Gladys Knight became more troubling to me as Wing describes the experience. The food starts off good, and then goes soggy. While there, it's the description of Monica in the restaurant I found troubling. With her blonde hair and beauty she glows and sparkles in the center of this restaurant in contrast with the darkness of the patrons of the restaurant. I was like..

After they leave the restaurant, a fatal event occurs, and all of the characters are shaped by the event. Wing finds her passion for running, and a mantra is born...she gains momentum and inspiration from her dragon and lion. This is what she calls her two grandmothers, one Chinese, and one Ghanaian (who reads more like an African American stereotype, than a Ghanaian grandmother). This stuck with me. Why are they dragon and lion? Where did this come from in the story? Are these just euphemisms alluding to the racial makeup of the women?


I wasn't endured or charmed by this, and just kind of rolled my eyes every time she refers to them as animals - which was a lot.

The romance between Wing and Aaron - though there's an almost sex scene at the beach which didn't seem very believable to me. Perhaps the part I found most accurate was Marcus' reaction to his life when he discovers the post Gladys-Knight-restaurant-carnage...but I had to wait until nearly the very end of the book for a sliver of accuracy, which is overshadowed by the lack of accuracy in speaking to what legally would have happened. It's barely even mentioned.

The setting of the story paints a fairly bleak portrait of Atlanta as a ghetto filled with homeless people, dirt, and crime. Their high school, predominantly African American, seems to be full of aggressive weave wearing girls, with Monica as the prettiest girl, and the mildest - initially she's the only girl in school Wing can connect with. The stereotype of the aggressive African American woman is not limited to the girl's in Wing's school, Wing's grandmother, Granny Dee is another casualty. Frequently seen as having an attitude, and even brandishes a knife on Wing's gentler, yet covertly sinister Lao Lao. It's interesting that she put both grandmothers in the same house - and as you would suspect - it is a source of drama and tension.

All in all I wasn't a fan of this one. I don't think I got a good representation of a biracial kid, or an African American, or a Ghanaian, or a Chinese person. If you take out the sprinkling of race, what you're left with is a fairly run-of-the-mill YA book.

[Youtube Video]

Recommendation: If you have the desire to see for yourself, you should! You may very well like the book, reviews on Goodreads, for the most part, are positive.
Audience: Young Adults

I knew from the first time I read the description of this book that I wanted to read it. Not only did it not disappoint, it soared above my expectations. Loved every beat.

My heart ached while reading this. Wing is so torn and tormented and I wanted to hug her so many times. Beautifully written!!!

It is great to finish an awesome YA read on Vday. 5 stars for me! It's been awhile since I have read a 5 star book and I'm so happy I got this ARC! I have to get this in hardcopy ASAP to go along with a few of my other 5 star contemporary YA like Tell Me Three Things and Simon vs the HomoSapians Agenda. I love a good, wonderfully written, great character driven, happy ending YA. I cannot recommend this enough!

The Heartbeats of Wing Jones

by Katherine Webber

Random House Children's

Delacorte Press



Teens & YA

Pub Date 14 Mar 2017

I am voluntarily reviewing a copy of The Heartbeats of Wing Jones through the publisher and Netgalley:

Wing's first memory is of her brother Marcus, teaching her to swing, and then jump off the swings while they were moving.

Marcus is a football star, he can stand out when he wants or blend in, Wing can do neither, she is picked on by a girl named Heather,she calls her freak.

Wing is a lowly girl, without fear, one day her brother is in an accident, and has to be cut out of the car by the Jaws of Life. His family is shocked to learn he was driving under the influence.

The first time Wing sees Marcus in the hospital she's shocked at the site of her unconconcious brother.

After Marcus's accident Wing begins running because it is the only thing that seems to help.

Seven months after the accident Marcus wakes up, but he has changed, he wishes he hadn't woken up, and Wing is upset with him because he is being selfish.

I give The Heartbeat of Wing Jones five out of five stars.

Happy Reading.

As a "big" Afro-Asian girl living in the south, Wing had been subject to constant taunts. She worked hard to try and "blend-in" as she lived in her older brother's shadow. Then Marcus made a bad choice, a bad choice which resulted in two deaths. While Marcus' life hung in the balance, Wing began to emerge from his shadow and found herself.

"I don't know what it is exactly, but I can't blend in, and I don't stand out in a good way like Marcus. I stick out. Marcus, he manages to stand out, to shine when he wants, but he can blend in too. "

This book filled my heart, broke my heart, made me smile, made me *sniffle*, made me happy, made me sad. I felt just about every emotion while I was reading Wing Jones, and I loved every minute of it.

First things first, this was a great story. I could totally relate to living in the shadow of an older sibling, because, well, I lived in the shadow of a standout older sibling. Although the event was quite tragic, the accident is what pushed Wing to deal with her own issues. As she dealt with these issues of inadequacy, disappointment, and grief, she sort of found herself.

Initially, she was running to forget, she was running from her situation. Once her running talent was discovered, she started running towards things. I just loved this concept of something turning from an escape into a solution.

"But when I'm running, I don't feel like an idiot. I feel free, like anything is possible. Like I'm not running from something, but for something. "

Moving on, the characters are all so well developed and each served an important role in this story. From Monica and Aaron to LaoLao and Granny Dee, I loved them all. The two grandmothers were so much fun, but they also offered so much love and support. Their presence was definitely an extra special touch, and I was so happy that Webber featured them so prominently.

The writing was stunning. From the very beginning, Webber's writing pulled me in. The blurb mentioned Jandy Nelson (one of my faves), and I would agree that Nelson and Webber share a talent for gorgeous and vivid prose.

"'I thought I was dreaming,' he says, his voice raspy with sleep. I love the sound. I want to take it and make a scarf out of it, so I can wrap it around my self and rub my face against it, soft and scratchy. "

"But my happiness is a squishy kind of happiness, squeezing itself in where it can fit, pushing around all the sadness and the stress and the pressure, finding any empty spot, any crevice, and filling it."

Finally, I will talk about the romance. I love romance, and although I did not feel the romance played center stage in this story, it was a part of the story. This romance unfolded out quite slowly, but when they finally kissed, it was perfection.

"I lean closer to him and take his hand in mine. A spark erupts between our palms, and I feel it go straight into my heart waking it up from a long sleep."

"I feel like I have learned to fly. It's like when I started running, really running, for the first time and my body woke up and every part of me was in tune, and it was the most right thing in the world. Kissing Aaron feels like that."

You will notice that I awarded this book 4.5 stars. Why not 5? The reason was the ending. It was a nice ending, but it was that contemporary ending that always makes me nuts. You know, that sort of open-ended ending. I am a closure-ho. I need epilogues and all loose ends tied up. I just did not get that from this ending. Don't get me wrong, it was satisfying, but I just wanted more.

Overall: A stunning debut from an author I want to read more from featuring strong family ties and a stellar heroine.

I could barely put this down. When I had to sleep I dreamed about the characters. Wing is so raw with emotions and growing up so quickly, it grabbed a hold of me and wouldn't let go until I finished the book. Even after I finished it, I wanted to keep living alongside Wing Jones.

If you haven't heard about this book yet, I'm guessing you haven't been on social media much (or you don't follow the same people as me on twitter!) because it is all I have heard about this year. Everyone has been raving about it, so I was really scared to read it in case I didn't share their love or get the hype. Admittedly, I was initially enticed by the beauty of the book. No, I'm not a fan of trainers, but ombre sprayed-edged pages? Um yes please! The blurb told me very little and as most of what I had heard about the book was from twitter I had gleaned little from 140 character offerings. Thankfully, when I finally took the plunge and began 'Wing Jones', I was able to sigh with relief, because I too am a fan!
So, Wing is the youngest of two children in the Jones family. She lives with her Chinese grandmother and mother, her African grandmother and her older brother Marcus. They have a close relationship as a family unit and the grandmothers are a perfect duo to bring the often much-needed comedy relief. The family were devastated seven years ago by the death of Wing's dad when on duty as a local police officer, and financially they're just about getting by, so as a character, Wing already seems like a bit of an underdog that the reader wants to see come good. Add to that, her half-Chinese, half-African heritage and you have a teenager who is socially insecure to say the least. The same cannot be said for her brother Marcus, but then as a jock he is pretty much secure in his high school social hierarchy placement. He is a likeable character and a great big brother, never seem to feel like Wing is 'tagging along' when she joins him and his girlfriend and best friend.
As the blurb says, a life-changing event causes turmoil for Wing, but it also leads her to discover her talent for running. I'm not an athlete – never have been and probably never will be – that being said, Webber's writing of Wing running was intoxicating enough to have even me contemplating reaching for my trainers. Ultimately, the books leads towards an all important race for Wing. For me, even until the last seconds of the race, it was not clear whether or not she would win – life doesn't always give a fairytale ending, and Wing definitely knows this. Consequently Webber had me sucked in to Wing's world until the very last pages and I can totally understand why everyone has been raving about this brilliant debut. Now all I need to do is summarise this in 140 characters!!

Great debut YA Novel.
Really enjoyed it. Good characters and the story gets you emotionally invested.

Wow! what a beautiful story.
What I love more about this book was the bond WJ had with her brother growing up. I read in many books how sisters/brother feel outshine but their sibling success, but WJ looked up to her brother.

Another thing I loved about this book was her grandmothers, boy they were a joy ride, they cracked me up so much. Granny Dee and LaoLao bicker like an old married couple. They have this weird love and hate friendship. They are like best friends who have arguments and are competitive with each other but at the end they walk away holding hands like nothing can break their bond.

If one thing I really dislike is bullying, so at one point of reading this book I wanted to throw some punches. Is sad that because one mistake one family member makes the rest has to pay for it. WJ had to endure it all, but thanks to running, her tight bond and love of her family; and Aaron she felt less alone and stressed.

One thing that was just weird for me was the Lioness and dragon. Why do they pop up? I understand is a culture thing but when did she start seeing them. Why? Was it because she felt alone. If they didn't speak how can they guide her.

Overall a great read.