Taking Flight is a coming-of-age story about a girl, Lauren, forced to stay in Georgia with the Marshall family because, in the wake of her mother’s death, she has stopped attending school. Since her alcoholic father does not insist that she go to school, a judge sentences her to seven months with David Marshall, a therapist who often takes in troublesome children and rehabilitates them. Lauren feels she does not fit in at all in Georgia, both because she is a lesbian and because she is used to a life of partying. The more she gets to know Cameron, however, the more she realizes she might fit in after all.

          I have nothing good to say about this book. The first chapter is a very good summary of what to expect throughout the novel. There is a huge focus on sex, anonymous sex, using others for sex, and a predictable storyline about finding true intimacy with someone. Lauren is a despicable character with unrealistic dialogue, and I found her one redeeming moment in the book to be when she publicly humiliates someone. The other characters have very few distinguishing traits and are there for Lauren’s use. It is difficult to see how any of the characters really change Lauren, even Cameron and Maddie, who I would argue are the most influential on her. As if this is not disappointing enough, the book ends hurriedly, in a moment completely devoid of tension, though there is still a great deal of questions and conflict that is left without being resolved.

© 2015 Catia Cunha

Catia Cunha has a BA in Theater Arts and English from Mount Holyoke College. She won Young Playwrights Inc.’s 2013 National Playwriting Competition where her short play “Legs” was presented as a staged reading at the Lucille Lortel Theatre at the culmination of the Conference. In the spring of 2013 she produced and acted in her first full-length play, ____space, which was presented at Mount Holyoke. Catia’s senior project, Disinsemination, a play about feminist lesbians and aliens, was presented as a staged reading at Smith College and Mount Holyoke in Fall 2013. Mount Holyoke’s Rooke Theatre produced it in March 2014. In October 2014 Catia participated in the Grex Group’s Insomniacs 24-hour play festival. She is currently working on a play about sea monsters in the subway.