Chasing the Arrow

Martha Lamon is a freelance writer and researcher based in Huntsville,
Ontario.

Robbie Carter’s mother, Emily, is an aeronautical engineer who works
at A.V. Roe in the late 1950s. Proud of her and intrigued by her work,
Robbie listens during the evenings when she and her colleagues gather at
the Carter home. He learns that they are building a new fighter jet
called the Avro Arrow, which will fly at incredible speeds, and that
there’s lots of politics surrounding the top-secret project.

The Arrow is the background against which other events in Robbie’s
life play out, including his struggle with a bully; his interest in a
female high-school student; his relationship with his best friend,
Billy; and the development of his mother’s romantic relationship with
a colleague at work. The book ends with the demise of the Arrow and the
resolution of many of the challenges Robbie has been facing.

The novel gives readers an account of the building of the jet and the
politics around the air defence industry at that time. Unfortunately,
Reid’s writing is heavy-handed, and the story never quite gets off the
page. Robbie’s eavesdropping on his mother and her colleagues becomes
tiresome and soon feels like a vehicle used to convey to the reader
information about the Arrow. The story ends with an implausible
encounter with the RCMP in which the bully is carted off for stealing
the plans to the fighter jet. Not a first-choice purchase.