The Year I Flew Away

November 1, 2020
Grades 3-6 *Starred Review* When the violent Macoute raid Gabrielle's Haitian village, her parents decide it's in her best interest to live with her aunt and uncle in America until they can join her at a later date. Filled with excitement for a life in glorious New York City, Gabrielle soon finds that her expectations are extremely different from her reality in America, and soon she finds herself wishing she could just fit in. The question is: What would happen should those wishes come true? This refreshing middle-grade story offers a "new kid" narrative that defines the heart of what it means to be American in today's world. Arnold champions the beauty and complexity of Gabrielle's culture, which is intensified by Caribbean mysticism, an unlikely (yet highly influential) character, and the bustling backdrop of the City of Dreams. The beauty of this book lies in its depiction of not only the joy and excitement but the sacrifice and weight of immigration for young people. Arnold is thorough and intentional in fleshing out what it means for Gabrielle to support her family back in Haiti, which heightens the stakes of her choices, making readers even more deeply invested into her success. This book will shift the notion of what exactly it means to be Black, to be an immigrant, and to fit in and be accepted.

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December 15, 2020
At home in Haiti, 10-year-old Gabrielle Marie Jean loves the rain, scary stories, beating the boys in mango-eating contests, and her family, most of all. When her parents' paperwork issues mean she must immigrate to the United States alone, every heavenly thing she believes about America can't outweigh the sense of dread she feels in leaving everything she knows behind. A preternaturally sensitive child, Gabrielle feels responsible for not only her own success, but her whole family's, so the stakes of moving in with her uncle, aunt, and cousins in Brooklyn are high--even before Lady Lydia, a witch, tries to steal her essence. Lydia makes her an offer she can't refuse: achieving assimilation. Arnold skillfully fuses distinct immigrant experiences with the supernatural to express a universally felt desire for belonging. Gabrielle desperately wants to fit in despite the xenophobia she experiences every day and despite making new, accepting friends in Mexican American Carmen and Rocky the talking rat-rabbit. But in trying to change herself, Gabrielle risks giving Lydia the power to conquer Brooklyn. Gabrielle is a charming narrator, and of course, good guy (girl) magic wins out in the end, but the threat to immigrant lives and identities is presented poignantly nonetheless in this richly imaginative origin story of one Haitian American girl that offers a fantastical take on immigrant narratives. Pratchett-like worldbuilding centers immigrant kids in a story filled with culture, humor, and heart. (Fiction. 9-12)

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 4, 2021
Balancing realistic and fantastical elements, Arnold’s astute debut asks hard questions about what it means to be an American and who is considered one. Ten-year-old Gabrielle is facing the biggest challenge of her life as she moves from her small, close-knit Haitian village to New York City. When her parents’ papers don’t come through, she’s sent alone to stay with an overworked aunt and uncle she’s never met, a standoffish teen cousin, and young twins. Though Gabrielle is determined to do her best, fitting in turns out to be harder than she thought. She doesn’t know English very well, and a mean girl bullies her relentlessly at school. Then a red door appears in her apartment building’s lobby at midnight; behind it, a seemingly benign witch offers to grant her wish of fitting in—for a small price. Arnold depicts experiences of racism that people of color frequently face in the U.S. (“In America, your color walks in the door before you do. Always”) while maintaining Gabrielle’s sense of her own strength and writing an inclusive, sometimes fanciful supporting cast, including Rocky, a rat that wants to be a rabbit. Ages 8–12.