Flyaway
by Lucy Christopher (Author)
In a heartbeat, in a wingbeat, it happens. Isla's father falls. They're racing across the fields, following the swans flying in to winter at the lake like they do every year, when something goes wrong. And before she can even catch her breath, they're in the back of an ambulance, she's holding his hand.
At the hospital, upset and scared, Isla meets Harry. Unlike the boys at school, he doesn't laugh when she tells him about her love of birds. He listens. But what is he doing there?
As Isla struggles with her father's frailty and the new feelings she has for Harry, she's determined to help the only way she knows how. Outside the hospital windows, Isla watches a lone whooper swan struggling to fly. If only she could save the lost bird, would that somehow heal her dad, and cure Harry, and make everything good again?
By the author of the Printz Honor Book STOLEN, an uplifting story about the thing with feathers - hope.
Locate at a Library Near You WorldCat is the world's largest library catalog, helping you find library materials online.
Find books about:
Kirkus Reviews
Publishers Weekly
In her first middle-grade novel, Christopher (Stolen) offers a story ribboned with metaphors involving themes of trauma, freedom, and hope. Isla and her father share a special relationship with the swans that migrate to a nearby lake each winter, until he is hospitalized with a heart condition. Isla's best friend has also moved away, and she feels isolated until meeting Harry, an optimistic and imaginative leukemia patient undergoing chemo treatments at the hospital and awaiting a bone marrow transplant. After Isla discovers a lost swan that has been separated from its flock, she makes it her mission to renew hope in Harry, her father, and herself by teaching the swan to fly, using a da Vinci-inspired flying machine that she creates with help from her estranged grandfather. Readers who share Isla's love of nature and penchant for introspection will easily gravitate to her; her determination and pithy observations make for a strong, sensitive portrait of a girl trying to make sense of difficult changes in her life, while learning to draw strength from those around her. Ages 10-14. (Oct.)
Copyright 2011 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.School Library Journal
Gr 5-8--Thirteen-year-old Isla and her father have long been fans of the wild swans that migrate through the nearby preserve, but environmental changes and birds flying into wires without warning markers are diminishing their numbers. After her dad has a heart attack, Isla, her brother, and her mum spend time at the hospital, where she finds a friend in Harry, a patient her age in the cancer ward. The two spot a lone swan and work together to try to help it. Details about daily life, soccer, school assignments, and family pressures are folded into the bigger traumas of life and death in this portrait of a girl growing into her own opinions and figuring out what matters most to her. Isla's art project, inspired by da Vinci's flying model sketches, becomes a mission to create wings for a flying machine, a project that helps her connect to her special swan, Harry, and an estranged grandfather. Beautiful writing with lyrical moments and mystical descriptions of nature creates a story that is rich and compelling with plenty of action to balance out the many reflective moments. Isla and Harry are experiencing first love while confronting the real possibility of death. The result is a rewarding and superb celebration of life--Carol A. Edwards, Denver Public Library, CO
Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
"Complicated and beautiful — this novel left me doubting my emotions and missing a place I'd never been." — Maggie Stiefvater
"A vivid new voice for teens." — Melvin Burgess
"All the tension of lightning, all the terror of thunder. A stunning, scary, and beautiful book." — John Marsden
"It's Gemma's strength and clear-headed narration that keep the pages turning long after your skin has started crawling." — The Daily Beast: Smart Young Adult Books: 10 Hot Picks
* "An emotionally raw thriller...a haunting account of captivity and the power of relationships." — Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Disturbing, heartbreaking, and beautiful all at once." — School Library Journal
"Has a veracity and immediacy that rivets the reader to the page...A fascinating, disturbing novel." — VOYA
"A complex psychological study that is also a tribute to the hypnotic beauty of the outback." — Booklist
"An arresting, dramatic story...induces both shivers and th
JUV039030 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Death & Dying
JUV015020 - Juvenile Fiction | Health & Daily Living | Diseases, Illnesses & Injuries
Families
Family life
Fathers and daughters
Swans
Wildlife rescue
Hospitals
