Kalina’s fourteen-year-old son, Marko, has spina bifida and is partially paralyzed, but he experiences the same emotions as other teens, including a burgeoning sexual identity. Kalina’s ability to cope is tested by not only Marko, but her relationship with her father. Like Wings, Your Hands is a thoughtful and provocative study of a mother-son relationship in the transition of adolescence. Aimee Bender, author of The Color Master, says, “In her frank, clear prose, Earley moves through multiple places and characters with startling ease, building a world at once honest and graceful.”
Like Wings, Your Hands, by Elizabeth Earley. Published by Red Hen Press. The editor is Rebeccah Sanhueza. Like Wings, Your Hands is a finalist for the Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBTQ Fiction, administered by the Publishing Triangle and Ferro-Grumley Literary Awards; the winner will be announced on April 30. (WRITTEN BY JERRY WHEELER.)