I wish someone (like my son who recommended this book to me) had told me that Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel is just the first in a three-part series about the  beguiling little bat named Shade who follows his own heart (and echo radar) to find justice and happiness for bats everywhere.  I was so enthralled and so eager to find out if the hero fulfills his quest, that when I came to the end and realized this book was just about stage one of the quest, I wailed and began to search frantically for volume Two.  I loved this book!

Oppel intertwines old myths about bats together with true facts about their physiognomy, migration habits, and eating patterns to tell this about Shade and his dream to release bats from their daylight banishment.  Bats are only allowed out at night because of an ancient battle between birds and beast in which the bats refused to take sides and fight.  For their neutrality, they were punished. Shade, having glimpsed the sun himself once, wants to set things right and fulfill the Promise made to bats long ago, that they would be allowed out in sunlight once again.

What I liked about this book for kids is that Shade, a gutsy little runt determined to prove his mettle, is multi-dimensional: sometimes he is very brave but often he is scared or confused or just wants his mom to wrap her wings around him and keep him warm. He is loyal to his friend Marina but at times questions her own motives and veracity.  He veers between admiring might and admiring brains, admiring force and admiring empathy. In other words, he is a typical kid on the verge of that first stage of independence who wants both to remain a child and to plunge headfirst into adulthood.  Fear and desire, certainty and confusion, all come out during Shade’s journey and we are with him as he learns life lessons and as he begins to mature into the “noble hero” of the book’s subtitle.

I will have to read the next two books, Sunwing (sounds like a promise fulfilled to me) and Firewing (ominous) to find out if Shade achieves his dream of bringing the bats out to the light, but I will with enthusiasm.  (There is also a prequel, Darkwing). This book had me on the edge of my seat, cheering our brave bat on, booing the bad bat guys, and pondering just exactly what roles the humans play in all this (Shade wonders too, seeing certain bats banded by the humans and confused by the differing bat theories as those bats being either cursed or chosen for glory).  The level of violence is just right for pre-teen kids, as well as the themes of war versus peacemaking, rights versus cooperation, loyalty to others versus self-determination, and the importance of history and memory.  The Silverwing series is a wonderful series for thinking kids who want some philosophy along with their adventure.