From School Library Journal Grade 7-10-- Tony's mother has been slowly and painfully dying from multiple sclerosis since he was a child. Her illness is only part of his life， however; school， soccer (football)， friends， and a wonderful girl occupy his time. He's also trying to understand why God would make his mother's life so tragic， why his father seems so cold and silent， and why terrific Clare wastes her time with him. Saving an injured herring gull with a broken wing and having his own ankle in a cast from a sports injury give him insight into the lives of those， like his parents， who live in cages and can't soar like the eagle in his mother's favorite biblical quote. After seeing his father and grandmother's sadness following his mother's death and the triumph of his gull's first flight， Tony begins to make room for his father's love， his girlfriend's affection， and his own self-realization. All this is in too slim a book， and the exploration of these issues seems contrived and overdone. The metaphor of the eagle is hard to follow， and the title is a heavy-handed one. There is so much British slang that it catches readers up short and interrupts the narrative. The voices of the teenagers are often much too adult to ring true. Still， there is a tenderness here--wonderful descriptions of Tony ministering to his mother with affection and compassion， the growing relationship between the teens， and the revealing scene of love between father and son. It's also one of the very few YA novels that explores the question of religious doubt. A book for readers asking for a "story to cry over." --Marjorie Lewis， Scarsdale Junior High School， NYCopyright 1991 Reed Business Information， Inc. From Kirkus Reviews On the surface， ninth-grader Tony Sharp leads the life of an average teen: he listens to rock， has a part-time job， and is having his first romance. But Tony's mother has multiple sclerosis; her illness leaves him wavering between a sense of helplessness over her condition and resentment that he doesn't have a mother who can care for him. Tony escapes from the pain by caring for an injured herring gull that he finds in a cave; but as the bird's wing heals， Mrs. Sharp's health fails. In a symbolic gesture， Tony releases the healthy gull the morning following his mother's death. Unfortunately， weak characterization， overly sentimental writing， and an almost nonexistent plot badly mar a potentially good story. The mother-son relationship is poorly developed and doesn't give a real sense of their intimacy between the two; as a result， Tony's frustrated outbursts sound hollow. (Fiction. 11+) -- Copyright ©1991， Kirkus Associates， LP. All rights reserved. See all Editorial Reviews