Fly Away

Starred review from January 27, 2014
As she did in recent younger middle-grade titles including The Truth of Me and Kindred Souls, MacLachlan again demonstrates a gift for combining an economy of prose with a bounty of emotion. Lucy’s family is traveling by VW bus to visit her eccentric Aunt Frankie in North Dakota. An aspiring poet, Lucy insists that she can’t sing, an anomaly in her musical family. Her farmer father loves opera as much as he loves cows; her mother is devoted to musician Langhorne Slim; younger sister Gracie sings in a clear, high voice; and baby Teddy can’t yet talk, but substitutes “la la la” for lyrics of songs he sings to Lucy each night. “Teddy has music but no words,” says Lucy. “I have words but no music. We are a strange pair.” Though the family’s strong bonds are the heart of this novel, MacLachlan includes some nerve-wracking drama, too: a river overflows, threatening to flood Aunt Frankie’s house, and Teddy disappears in the deluge. As befits a story in which words and music play such a central role, MacLachlan’s writing is melodic, poetic, and enchanting. Ages 7–up.

Starred review from March 1, 2014
Filled with little moments of quiet wisdom and gentle humor, Newbery winner MacLachlan's story about family love soars. Lucy is the only member of her family who cannot sing. Everyone else--her father, her mother, and her younger sister, Grace--sings on pitch. Even her toddler brother, Teddy, who does not yet talk, sings--although only Lucy knows this, as Teddy sings to her secretly each night. But while Lucy cannot sing (she thinks), she is planning to be a poet, and as she and her family journey across the Minnesota prairie in an old Volkswagen bus and arrive at her aunt's home on the Red River in North Dakota, she composes poems, hoping to write one for her father that is "as beautiful as a cow." (Her father loves cows.) The story, told in first person by Lucy, is ostensibly simple. But in the hands of MacLachlan, simple becomes sparely elegant, and the narrative unfolds to reveal a world of secrets, strengths, fears, and aspirations both relinquished and recovered, with a frisson of tension that rises as the Red River floods. The climax, when it comes, is less of a nail-biter and more of a warm, cozy blanket of love and support--and readers won't mind one bit. A story that never cloys, succeeding on all levels. (Fiction. 6-10)

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March 1, 2014

Gr 3-6-The saying "blood is thicker than water" has never been truer than in this contemporary tale of family devotion. In an old Volkswagen van, Lucy and her family, along with a few cherished chickens, are on a road trip. They are headed to North Dakota to defend her Aunt Frankie's farm from a swelling river. Eschewing most modern conveniences, the family's days are filled with nature, music, and poetry. Young Lucy possesses a raw talent for writing, yet she feels at a loss since she "can't sing" and she covets a melodious voice like the ones she hears everyday-in the operas, blues, and sweet melodies sung by her two-year-old brother, Teddy, who doesn't talk but secretly sings to Lucy. The beauty of this tale is in how the family unites against the swollen river. Lucy discovers that while her song is not the most beautiful, it can be tremendously powerful. This is a flawless introduction to the power of words. Written in simple prose, this lyrically written story offers a moving leitmotif that will stay with readers long after the last page. A must-have.-Sada Mozer, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2014
Grades 2-4 Lucy and her family make their annual trip to visit Aunt Frankie in North Dakota just as floodwaters rise, threatening her home. Meanwhile, Lucy shares a secret with her little brother, Teddy: though the rest of the family thinks that he can't talk yet, she knows that he can. He climbs into bed every evening and sings to her. While they're at Aunt Frankie's house, Teddy coaxes Lucy, the one person in their musical family who can't sing, to sing to him. When Teddy goes missing near the swollen river, her voice is the only sound that might save him. Author of the Newbery Medalwinning Sarah Plain and Tall (1985), MacLachlan writes with simplicity and clarity, weaving adults and children into a close-knit circle of caring. While Lucy's warm, supportive family will be comforting to some readers, others may find the idealized characters off-putting at times. The appealing jacket art, large type, and wide-spaced lines of text make this volume an inviting choice for readers who are beginning to read longer chapter books.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)