Flying Lessons and Other Stories

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School, Brunswick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 5, 2018

Review

An anthology of stories celebrating the unique perspective and voices we bring to life. With selections from Matt de la Pena, Grace Lin, Meg Medina, Tim Federle, Kelly J. Baptist, Tim Tingle, Jacqueline Woodson, Soman Chainani, Kwame Alexander, and Walter Dean Myers, whose work inspired Oh to collate this collection, this book for 6-9th graders is at times poignant, thought-provoking, and laugh-out-loud funny. De la Pena balances the delicate relationship of a father and son with lessons learned from playing basketball, offering a clear lesson with with such sincerity that it should resonate with many young readers. Lin's story, with its beautiful prose and excellent vocabulary, tells a story set in a China of the past, in a world where one girl falls in with pirates and finds her own path. Medina offers a window into what the world is like being a POC in a world of privilege through the eyes of a family of painters led by a father who does menial work to send his kids to a fancy school - she sums up the heart of the story, "He chose to be invisible today so [his kids] won't ever have to be." Federle's gentle story of a sexual awakening shows how a quiet young girl finds her voice. Baptist's main character, a homeless boy attempting to care for his little sister and navigate the world with an alcoholic mother, clings to the stories created by his dead father. Tingle brings a lighter touch through his unreliable, but likeable Uncle Kenneth who delights the children with a madcap story about Choctaw Bigfoot. Woodson takes the reader to small town New Hampshire where they experience loss, grieving, friendship, racism, acceptance, and growing up, all in 11 pages! Chainani's stylish, sassy Nani shows her grandson Santosh that there is more to life than the safe "cage" that he has constructed for himself. Alexander, in his signature and brilliant verse, adds a touch of magic with a story about a first crush. Myers closes the collection, coming full-circle with another story about a father/son relationship and the sport that could unite them if not for tragic circumstances. Each story is told in an authentic voice and offers the reader either a mirror to see his or her own culture reflected, or a window into another life that, though different from his or her own, still resonates with the same desires, insecurities, challenges, and difficult family dynamics. The stories contain lessons delivered with glee or with the wisdom of a beloved older sibling, or maybe a quirky Uncle Kenneth. Highly recommend for any middle school, high school, or public library.

Overall Book Score: excellent