"At home, I cut out a big star.
Mama asked what I was making.
"A kite," I said.
After supper I paced the room
and told a story about everything
the kite might see as it flew above
our town."
This frightening first-person narrative tells a story of military occupation. The child and his family experience its horrors when his father and brother are taken from them. The family is forced to stay inside because of a decreed curfew. Their evening is wrought with fear, as would be expected.
A one-hour reprieve is given the following day. The boy and his friends play in the park; his mother does the shopping for items needed. Their isolation goes on for days. Filling the time with drawing, storytelling, and hoping for their loved ones' return, they also listen to the sounds of gunfire, shouting, and chaos.
During one of their curfew breaks, he shares a new idea with his friends. At home, he designs and builds a kite. He tells his mother and sister what the kite might see when it is ready to fly. Once launched, his kite and others fly freely until the soldiers shoot them down. He lets his go and his 'star' shines brightly above their city - until it disappears.
Images created in soft pastel, with details in crayon and watercolor, are mostly bleak as is the story told. There are brief spots of color when the kites are built and flown, suggesting a small degree of hope for the future. Faces show the fear felt, and backgrounds show the devastation that military action has on their town. Each spread adds depth to the readers' understanding of the terror felt and freedom lost.
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