Flyaway

Isla has a love of birds. One day, when she and her father are watching their beloved flock of swans, he has a heart attack. As Isla struggles with her father's illness and the changes in her life, she meets a young man who is awaiting a bone marrow transplant and encounters a lost swan. Everywhere she looks, Isla wants to help. Narrator Harriet Carmichael is sublime as she portrays parents, siblings (and their rivalry), and an array of school friends and teachers. Each rendering adds to the outstanding dialogue and well-drawn characters. Listeners will find these moving situations and characters compelling. S.G.B. (c) AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

September 19, 2011
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.

March 1, 2012
Gr 5-8-Isla shares a love for bird-watching with her father. When they go to watch the annual arrival of the migrating wild whooper swans, her father collapses and is rushed to the hospital with a heart ailment. While visiting him, Isla gets to know Harry, a teenage cancer patient. Feeling helpless with the health issues that both her father and Harry face, Isla befriends a young lone swan. She feels that if she can help save the bird, her dad and Harry will recover. Wonderfully descriptive passages of the swans and the landscape offset the somewhat depressing hospital scenes. Set in the UK, Lucy Christopher's novel (2011) is narrated by Harriet Carmichael, who has a very strong English accent, but handles all the voices competently. Her enthusiastic tones perfectly capture Isla's teenage frustration. Frequently used English terms such as jumper (for sweater), trainers (sneakers), and boot (trunk of a car) may confuse listeners. This beautifully written story may just be nominated for some of this year's book awards, as was Christopher's previous novel, "Stolen" (2010, both Chicken House), a Printz Honor Award winner.-"Julie Paladino, East Chapel Hill High School, NC"

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.