Cloudmaker

Brooks (Painted Horses) tells an appealing story about a boy who longs to fly. The year is 1937, and in Big Coulee, Mont., 14-year-old Houston “Huck” Finn is building his own airplane based on plans he found. He receives unexpected help when his cousin, 18-year-old Annelise Clutterbuck, arrives for a stay, her parents thinking it best to put physical distance between her and her aviator boyfriend. Free-spirited Annelise dives right in to Huck’s project, as does blacksmith Yakima McKee. Things become complicated when Huck finds a dead body and removes from the corpse a special Longines Lindbergh flight watch. In doing so, he unknowingly places himself, Annelise, and Yakima in jeopardy with the gangsters who are desperate to retrieve the watch. The story takes place against the background of Amelia Earhart’s around-the-world flight, which figures somewhat mystically in the novel’s airborne climax. Part coming-of-age story, part adventure, and part gangster melodrama, the elements don’t totally come together, but the nostalgic atmosphere and exciting flying scenes transport the reader to an early, adventurous time in aviation history. When airborne, Brooks really shines. Agent: Kirby Kim, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Mar.)