The Importance of Wings

Friedman, Robin. The Importance of Wings. New ed. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishing, 2009.

The Importance of Wings is a story about an Israeli-American girl named Roxanne (Ravit) Ben-Ari. The main character and her family live in New York City in the 1980s. While her mother is way in Israel, her father works late into the night as a cab driver in Manhattan. Afterschool, thirteen year old Roxanne and her younger sister fend for themselves in cooking dinner and managing to get their homework assignments done. Roxanne is embarrassed by her Israeli name (Ravit), her father's clothes and thick accent. She longs to fit in with her schoolmates as an American. Lait, another Israeli girl, moves into the "cursed" house next door and teaches Roxanne to be unconcerned and gives her a fresh perspective to view her appreciation of her family and cultural lifestyle with. This easy read coming-of-age story addresses common issues in immigrant American children.

Resources to Support the Text

Note From the Author

This website provides the students with a short interview with the author. Robin Friedman talks about the setting for the story and why she chose to it to take place in the 1980s. By better understanding why the author chose the setting and time period that she did for the setting of the story, the students will be able to comprehend how people of different nationalities were treated at this point in time. The author describes one of the main reasons that she chooses the 1980s in New York City as the setting because of her ability to relive her own memories in her youth in her writing.

Israel Culture

This website gives the students basic background information about the culture of Israel. The students will learn about the location, geography, linguistic affiliation, food customs, family, education, religon, economy, ceremonial occasions, political life and social welfare. Through providing the students with this information, they will be able to better understand the culture that Roxanne comes from and make connections between the text and the information that they have learned on this website.

Key Vocabulary

Torture, murderous, Hebrew, nonexistent, awful, busted, curse, Israeli, situation, estate

Reading Strategy

Before reading the story, invite an Israeli guest speaker in the classroom. Have the speaker share with the class their culture and their customs. The students will become familiarized with this firsthand experience about the people who originate from Israel.

Writing Activity

If you were a classmate of Roxanne's, how could you make her feel comfortable and confident in her Israeli culture?