Also working for the program is Rail, the bright and gentle son of a shell-shocked Vietnam veteran, a boy who has had Taylor's special disdain throughout the school year. Together, the three work to heal the hawk and keep the program from losing its funding. But they are really working, of course, to heal each other. They nearly fail when Taylor's mother chooses to go on a lecture tour of Europe and Taylor's father has an affair with Rhiannon. The biggest delight of this novel is its refusal to simplify the characters.
Major characters are very rich, with serious flaws.
Only the deep willingness to forgive that comes with maturity can precent the destruction of Taylor's family in the end - and she is the character who must find that maturity. The ending itself seems a bit forced, as Taylor and her mother choose to remain in Hunter's Gap in order to stay with Taylor's father and, presumably, Rail. This is a fine book for young adults, and especially for teenagers who have a fondness for teen romance. It is considerably more complex and sophisticated than some of the other books in such a vein, though, at almost 300 pages, it is rather long for reluctant readers.