While reading this novel, I really began to feel I would scream if swans were mentioned one more time. They are everywhere - as metaphors, as characters in their own right, and as a central focus of the story. The author even calls her acknowledgements her 'flock'. I also wondered how Isla, the main character, managed to make her way in and out of a busy hospital looking thoroughly muddy and wet and carrying a remarkable set of swan's wings! However, having mentioned my reservations, there is a great deal in this complex novel to recommend it. Isla and her father are very close, partly because of their shared interest in whooper swans, and when he becomes seriously ill with a heart condition, Isla and her mum and brother are very worried. During their many trips to the hospital, Isla meets a boy, Harry, who has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, and they become good friends. As the story develops, it becomes clear that Harry will have to have a marrow transplant and may not survive the procedure, and dad must have a new heart valve and also may not make it. Isla copes with distress by her involvement with a swan that has come to stay on a lake near the hospital. She and the swan have an almost magical attachment, and she feels if she can help the swan find its flock, all will be well. Harry becomes involved in the swan's story too, and a tender and very gentle love affair develops between the two teenagers. When Isla designs and (with the help of her grandfather) makes a pair of wings for a school project, she and the swan seem to fly together for a short distance, and ultimately, in a harrowing sequence, the swan is helped to find her flock. Dad will be okay, and Harry gets through his transplant so there is hope all will be well. Told in the first person and in the present tense by Isla, this story's real strength lies in the family relationships and in Isla's feelings about what is going on around her. She also plays an important part in the reconciliation between her grandad and her father. This is Lucy Christopher's first book, and while there are flaws, hers is an interesting new talent to watch.