Fly Away

April 1, 2011

Gr 7-10-Marnie is given a coveted position on her cheerleading squad when another teammate is injured. While trying frantically to prepare for a championship competition, she has boyfriend issues, worries about her best friend's relationship with an older man, and must deal with her changing role on the squad. While in some ways a typical story dealing with changing relationships in the teen years, Fly Away features an interesting and different subplot revolving around Marnie's best friend's decision to drop out of her final semester of high school to focus on an art career. While characters are somewhat stock and two-dimensional, the book offers up few easy answers, leaving some issues to be resolved in readers' own minds. This short novel will appeal to reluctant readers and enthusiasts of nontraditional sports.-Natasha Forrester, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR

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