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Fly Away
From the Newbery Award–winning author of Sarah, Plain and Tall comes a story about one brave girl who saves her family from losing everything. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly calls this lyrical tale “melodic, poetic, and enchanting.”Everyone in Lucy’s family sings. Opera. Rap. Lullabies. Everyone, except Lucy. Lucy can’t sing; her voice won’t come out.Just like singing, helping Aunt Frankie prepare for flooding season is a family tradition—even if Frankie doesn’t want the help. And this year, when the flood arrives and danger finds its way into the heart of Lucy’s family, Lucy will need to find her voice to save her brother.“Filled with little moments of quiet wisdom and gentle humor, Newbery winner MacLachlan's story about family love soars” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).
129 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2014
12 people are currently reading
709 people want to read
About the author
Patricia MacLachlan
125 books804 followersPatricia MacLachlan was born on the prairie, and always carried a small bag of prairie dirt with her wherever she went to remind her of what she knew first. She was the author of many well-loved novels and picture books, including Sarah, Plain and Tall, winner of the Newbery Medal; its sequels, Skylark and Caleb's Story; and Three Names, illustrated by Mike Wimmer. She lived in western Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 190 reviews
July 15, 2017
Profound whimsicality.
Is that oxymoronic, you ask? I think not, at least not when in reference to any of Patricia MacLachlan's works.
I am blown away by each of the books I read by MacLachlan. They are absolutely beautiful, from the gorgeous cover illustrations, to the story, to the sentence structure and writing style, all down to the formatting. MacLachlan is the master of doing incomplete sentences beautifully, capturing the whimsicality of life, and dropping profound, heartfelt and heartwarming themes throughout. By far the best children's author I have ever read. And one of the most wonderful things about her writing, is that while they are intended for children, they are enjoyable by all ages, which is what makes them so phenomenal.
Highly recommended!
Is that oxymoronic, you ask? I think not, at least not when in reference to any of Patricia MacLachlan's works.
I am blown away by each of the books I read by MacLachlan. They are absolutely beautiful, from the gorgeous cover illustrations, to the story, to the sentence structure and writing style, all down to the formatting. MacLachlan is the master of doing incomplete sentences beautifully, capturing the whimsicality of life, and dropping profound, heartfelt and heartwarming themes throughout. By far the best children's author I have ever read. And one of the most wonderful things about her writing, is that while they are intended for children, they are enjoyable by all ages, which is what makes them so phenomenal.
Highly recommended!
July 2, 2017
A very sweet story. Something I have come to expect and love from Patricia MacLachlan. So heartwarming, precious, and real. The almost poetic, but perfect writing gets me every time. Everyone must read at least one of her books in their lifetime. 5 stars all the way.
December 21, 2018
Such a beautiful story!
Patricia MacLachlan's prose is as lyrical as poetry--as usual. I love Lucy's sweet and quirky family, and I adore her relationship with her little brother. Teddy himself is just a gem--so smart and sweet and perfectly beautiful! The message of family and bravery and reaching out to share your heart is precious. And I'm so glad the music to the "fly away" song was included! (I'll probably be humming it to myself for a while...)
A couple of very small nitpicks--some details felt a little inconsistent with the fact that they come here every year. Also I personally have a hard time with kids calling a parent by their name/nickname. But those were very minor issues.
I actually only picked this book up because I needed a North Dakota setting for a challenge, but now that I've read it, I'll definitely come back to it again. :)
Patricia MacLachlan's prose is as lyrical as poetry--as usual. I love Lucy's sweet and quirky family, and I adore her relationship with her little brother. Teddy himself is just a gem--so smart and sweet and perfectly beautiful! The message of family and bravery and reaching out to share your heart is precious. And I'm so glad the music to the "fly away" song was included! (I'll probably be humming it to myself for a while...)
A couple of very small nitpicks--some details felt a little inconsistent with the fact that they come here every year. Also I personally have a hard time with kids calling a parent by their name/nickname. But those were very minor issues.
I actually only picked this book up because I needed a North Dakota setting for a challenge, but now that I've read it, I'll definitely come back to it again. :)
April 19, 2016
Every spring the Red River would crest stretching its murky water over the school's football field where I worked in North Dakota. Many of the students lived on farms and dealt with yearly floods. I just read the picture book, "Blizzard," by John Rocco to 4th graders and told stories about surviving seven blizzards one winter followed by the North Dakota flood of 1997. This story is about a family that travels to North Dakota to help their Aunt Frankie fight the Red River from flooding her farmstead. Patricia MacLachlan brought back many memories of the prairie and rising river. Her word choices create a rhythm and beauty that lulled me into the quiet start only to end with some big drama. Likewise, the protagonist Lucy, creates melodies with words; poetry to be exact, but she can't carry a tune in a musical family. Even though this intermediate reader has 100 pages, it would be a good read aloud as it carries much emotion and depth in a solid setting.
Lucy is traveling in an old Volkswagon van to her aunt's farm with her parents, two-year-old brother, and six-year-old sister to North Dakota. Her dad loves cows and opera while her mother loves musician Langhorne Slim. Her sister can sing in a "high perfect voice" and her selective mute brother can sing perfectly in tune. It's their secret. No one knows that he can hum in tune. They think he's mute. "Teddy has music but no words." She explains. "I have words but no music. We are a strange pair." When Teddy sees a cow for the first time he speaks to the amazement of his family. As the trip continues, he starts to say more aloud.
Some factors in selective mutism are anxiety by being overwhelmed in an unfamiliar situation or trouble processing sensory information. We see this at our school quite a bit and it is usually temporary. Teddy suffers from the same issues but will "talk," so-to-speak with Lucy. He says her name, "See" and sings to her a song every night using "la" or "ba." When Lucy tells the adults he can speak, he refuses to show them. At first annoyed, Lucy later likes their secret. It is like their secret language and makes her feel special. She obviously adores Teddy and looks out for him, perhaps more than the average sibling. When Teddy does start to talk he turns the tables on Lucy and forces her to sing. The message of facing your fears and having the courage to be bad at something makes for good discussions.
The subplot about writing and the fear of rejection is subtle, but apparent in Lucy's character arc. She might hate singing but Lucy loves to write poetry; however, she is afraid her family will criticize it and she's reluctant to share it with them. She keeps a journal and uses poetry to sort through her feelings about her Aunt's farm. Writing is hard, "I stare at the blank lined page. I feel the same way about a blank page that my Mama feels about her old home in North Dakota. I love it because it is fresh and clean. I hate it because I have to fill it." Lucy's mom doesn't like to go back to her family farm and Lucy tries to figure out why as the story progresses.
The beautiful descriptions McLachlan uses for emotions or places or things lifts the words off these pages making memorable images. She takes small moments and stretches them into tender, emotional ones; whether Teddy is slipping a hand into his big sister Lucy's or Aunt Frankie is talking about the beautiful singing she heard through the vent at night in her room below. Lucy describes the water slowly turning the farm into an island. When she looks at the cow it is her eyes that capture Lucy's attention, "Her eyes are so big I can see my own reflection there, looking tiny next to this huge cow." The author reminds me to slow down and look at the details in each day. A good addition to your library.
Lucy is traveling in an old Volkswagon van to her aunt's farm with her parents, two-year-old brother, and six-year-old sister to North Dakota. Her dad loves cows and opera while her mother loves musician Langhorne Slim. Her sister can sing in a "high perfect voice" and her selective mute brother can sing perfectly in tune. It's their secret. No one knows that he can hum in tune. They think he's mute. "Teddy has music but no words." She explains. "I have words but no music. We are a strange pair." When Teddy sees a cow for the first time he speaks to the amazement of his family. As the trip continues, he starts to say more aloud.
Some factors in selective mutism are anxiety by being overwhelmed in an unfamiliar situation or trouble processing sensory information. We see this at our school quite a bit and it is usually temporary. Teddy suffers from the same issues but will "talk," so-to-speak with Lucy. He says her name, "See" and sings to her a song every night using "la" or "ba." When Lucy tells the adults he can speak, he refuses to show them. At first annoyed, Lucy later likes their secret. It is like their secret language and makes her feel special. She obviously adores Teddy and looks out for him, perhaps more than the average sibling. When Teddy does start to talk he turns the tables on Lucy and forces her to sing. The message of facing your fears and having the courage to be bad at something makes for good discussions.
The subplot about writing and the fear of rejection is subtle, but apparent in Lucy's character arc. She might hate singing but Lucy loves to write poetry; however, she is afraid her family will criticize it and she's reluctant to share it with them. She keeps a journal and uses poetry to sort through her feelings about her Aunt's farm. Writing is hard, "I stare at the blank lined page. I feel the same way about a blank page that my Mama feels about her old home in North Dakota. I love it because it is fresh and clean. I hate it because I have to fill it." Lucy's mom doesn't like to go back to her family farm and Lucy tries to figure out why as the story progresses.
The beautiful descriptions McLachlan uses for emotions or places or things lifts the words off these pages making memorable images. She takes small moments and stretches them into tender, emotional ones; whether Teddy is slipping a hand into his big sister Lucy's or Aunt Frankie is talking about the beautiful singing she heard through the vent at night in her room below. Lucy describes the water slowly turning the farm into an island. When she looks at the cow it is her eyes that capture Lucy's attention, "Her eyes are so big I can see my own reflection there, looking tiny next to this huge cow." The author reminds me to slow down and look at the details in each day. A good addition to your library.
January 23, 2021
Patricia MacLachlan has had a way of turning out books like Fly Away on a dizzyingly frequent basis, often two or three times each year. The stories are sweet and homey, filled with real people who act like the ones we're friends with or have in our families. These people have flaws, but are usually big-hearted, too, even if their hurts have eclipsed the expression of that big-heartedness temporarily. The children created by Patricia MacLachlan are keenly observant of the wondrous, complex world around them, not taking for granted what it has to offer, but still very much children, young and flighty and wanting to have a good time, especially with loved ones. Like the author's Newbery Medal-winning Sarah, Plain and Tall, Fly Away isn't a long novel, but its meaning will linger on in the reader a while after the story has been finished. It is this particular gift for storytelling that Patricia MacLachlan has long used to touch people's lives, and which she has never faltered in extending to its utmost.
"I feel the same way about a blank page that my Mama feels about her old home in North Dakota. I love it because it is fresh and clean. I hate it because I have to fill it."
—Fly Away, P. 22
Lucy and her family are taking a long trip across the country to visit their Aunt Frankie. It's Lucy, her mother, her father (called Boots because he wears Boots), Lucy's younger sister Gracie, and the baby of the family, golden-haired Teddy, who is not yet two years of age. The family is headed to help Aunt Frankie deal with the scary flooding that happens around her house in season, perennially threatening not only the land, but the house itself, as well as anyone choosing to live there. As Lucy's family makes the multi-day drive to Frankie's house, Lucy thinks on her ambition to become what her father once was before quitting to pursue farming: a poet. Lucy ruminates on her secret dream, which she hopes to prove she can fulfill before letting her father in on it. Lucy loves words of every variety and timbre, but the words of song won't flow properly from her throat. For her singing enjoyment, she leans on the naturally silver tones of her little brother. Sneaking into Lucy's room at night, Teddy sings familiar songs, la-la-la-ing in place of syllables, which are still a bit too complicated for him to form. Teddy's singing is a secret; he only does it for Lucy, and she joyfully receives the honor of being the miniature divo's sole audience.
But everyone has a secret goal or two, even if those goals are harder to define than Lucy's. Her mother longs for her old home where Frankie now resides, to live and love again in its hallways, but at the same time she wants no part of it. Feelings old and new have a hard time settling down when they've been stirred up, but the subtleties of family emotion will have to take a back-burner position to the imminent threat of flooding. The river by Frankie's house, swollen dangerously by the season's precipitation, is climbing uncomfortably close to the old house. There are things that can be done to curtail its rise from destroying the house, but after a point it becomes a waiting game on nature, hoping the rains halt before Frankie's home is engulfed by a raging river. All the helpful neighbors in the county can't stop the river if the rain continues pouring. But even the sentimental importance of a valued family home pales when something of greater worth is placed in peril. The majesty of the bank-less river, an impassive force for all its glory, can snatch from a mother's arms the pride and happiness of her life, the one treasure she can't afford to lose, and it may require the sharing of long-held secrets to save that which was taken. Nothing makes us appreciate more what we have than to teeter on the precipice of a loss that borders on unimaginable.
Fly Away is as subtle as any juvenile novel, its message hard to pin down but surely there. No one but the two kids involved are privy to the beauty of Teddy's nightly gift to Lucy, the gift of his high, harmonious voice to keep her company through the darkness of night until the emergence of dawn's gentle light. The boy never seems to tire of his lilting lullabies for his sister, garlanding the space the siblings inhabit with his sweet, golden notes, a song only for him and her to enjoy, a brief intimacy of purpose that binds the two inseparably. There is no gift like the sharing of a secret treasure, offering it to one we want to show how much we care. It was the unpolished beauty of nature that inspired Lucy's father to give up poetry for farming, declaring, "You can't write anything better than a cow." True that may be, but nor can anyone write anything better than a fair-haired toddler crooning his sister to sleep, hushed melodies calming every insecurity in the drowsy pleasure of twilight consciousness. Does Teddy make Fly Away the book it is? Maybe, but so does Lucy, for openhandedly receiving the musical devotions of her toddler sibling and understanding them for the unique gift they are. Not everyone has someone like Teddy in their world, able and willing to shed such luminous light into their lives on a nightly basis, in one form or another. Those who do are most fortunate, and we recognize that fortune. Nothing could be more special.
A longer, deeper novel could have been made out of Fly Away, but that isn't Patricia MacLachlan's style. Her stories are crafted from the subtle magic of families drawing closer and discovering what they have in one another that they couldn't see at the beginning of the book, the simple reward of perceiving at last that chasing a rainbow to its opposite end isn't necessary if we're already standing next to the pot of gold at one end. In simplicity of speech and narrative, we learn that real life, imperfect and annoying as it can be, is beautiful enough to own and cherish and never willingly relinquish. Like so many of Patricia MacLachlan's books, Fly Away captures that truth gracefully, if not in mind-blowing fashion. I would give it two and a half stars, and recommend it without hesitation to the author's fans. If you loved The Truth of Me, White Fur Flying, The True Gift, Waiting for the Magic, The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt, or anything in the Sarah, Plain and Tall quintet, chances are you'll love Fly Away, too. This story will do a lot of good for many, many people.
"I feel the same way about a blank page that my Mama feels about her old home in North Dakota. I love it because it is fresh and clean. I hate it because I have to fill it."
—Fly Away, P. 22
Lucy and her family are taking a long trip across the country to visit their Aunt Frankie. It's Lucy, her mother, her father (called Boots because he wears Boots), Lucy's younger sister Gracie, and the baby of the family, golden-haired Teddy, who is not yet two years of age. The family is headed to help Aunt Frankie deal with the scary flooding that happens around her house in season, perennially threatening not only the land, but the house itself, as well as anyone choosing to live there. As Lucy's family makes the multi-day drive to Frankie's house, Lucy thinks on her ambition to become what her father once was before quitting to pursue farming: a poet. Lucy ruminates on her secret dream, which she hopes to prove she can fulfill before letting her father in on it. Lucy loves words of every variety and timbre, but the words of song won't flow properly from her throat. For her singing enjoyment, she leans on the naturally silver tones of her little brother. Sneaking into Lucy's room at night, Teddy sings familiar songs, la-la-la-ing in place of syllables, which are still a bit too complicated for him to form. Teddy's singing is a secret; he only does it for Lucy, and she joyfully receives the honor of being the miniature divo's sole audience.
But everyone has a secret goal or two, even if those goals are harder to define than Lucy's. Her mother longs for her old home where Frankie now resides, to live and love again in its hallways, but at the same time she wants no part of it. Feelings old and new have a hard time settling down when they've been stirred up, but the subtleties of family emotion will have to take a back-burner position to the imminent threat of flooding. The river by Frankie's house, swollen dangerously by the season's precipitation, is climbing uncomfortably close to the old house. There are things that can be done to curtail its rise from destroying the house, but after a point it becomes a waiting game on nature, hoping the rains halt before Frankie's home is engulfed by a raging river. All the helpful neighbors in the county can't stop the river if the rain continues pouring. But even the sentimental importance of a valued family home pales when something of greater worth is placed in peril. The majesty of the bank-less river, an impassive force for all its glory, can snatch from a mother's arms the pride and happiness of her life, the one treasure she can't afford to lose, and it may require the sharing of long-held secrets to save that which was taken. Nothing makes us appreciate more what we have than to teeter on the precipice of a loss that borders on unimaginable.
Fly Away is as subtle as any juvenile novel, its message hard to pin down but surely there. No one but the two kids involved are privy to the beauty of Teddy's nightly gift to Lucy, the gift of his high, harmonious voice to keep her company through the darkness of night until the emergence of dawn's gentle light. The boy never seems to tire of his lilting lullabies for his sister, garlanding the space the siblings inhabit with his sweet, golden notes, a song only for him and her to enjoy, a brief intimacy of purpose that binds the two inseparably. There is no gift like the sharing of a secret treasure, offering it to one we want to show how much we care. It was the unpolished beauty of nature that inspired Lucy's father to give up poetry for farming, declaring, "You can't write anything better than a cow." True that may be, but nor can anyone write anything better than a fair-haired toddler crooning his sister to sleep, hushed melodies calming every insecurity in the drowsy pleasure of twilight consciousness. Does Teddy make Fly Away the book it is? Maybe, but so does Lucy, for openhandedly receiving the musical devotions of her toddler sibling and understanding them for the unique gift they are. Not everyone has someone like Teddy in their world, able and willing to shed such luminous light into their lives on a nightly basis, in one form or another. Those who do are most fortunate, and we recognize that fortune. Nothing could be more special.
A longer, deeper novel could have been made out of Fly Away, but that isn't Patricia MacLachlan's style. Her stories are crafted from the subtle magic of families drawing closer and discovering what they have in one another that they couldn't see at the beginning of the book, the simple reward of perceiving at last that chasing a rainbow to its opposite end isn't necessary if we're already standing next to the pot of gold at one end. In simplicity of speech and narrative, we learn that real life, imperfect and annoying as it can be, is beautiful enough to own and cherish and never willingly relinquish. Like so many of Patricia MacLachlan's books, Fly Away captures that truth gracefully, if not in mind-blowing fashion. I would give it two and a half stars, and recommend it without hesitation to the author's fans. If you loved The Truth of Me, White Fur Flying, The True Gift, Waiting for the Magic, The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt, or anything in the Sarah, Plain and Tall quintet, chances are you'll love Fly Away, too. This story will do a lot of good for many, many people.
October 7, 2022
Having just moments ago set down the book, all I can say is this is possibly the sweetest little tale that I’ve read in years. I was worried that when I would read it, I wouldn’t like it as much, just for being pass the age target meant for the book, but I glad to have my fear quickly put to rest.
It’s written very simply, but with a charm and homey feel that makes it relatable to readers of all ages. Lucy’s little secret bond with Teddy, and the whole family-centeredness of the story! GAW! So beautiful!
Charmingly beautiful with rich messages wove craftily and powerfully within it.
One of my favorite quotes:
I wait, but Teddy doesn’t sing. He comes over and crawls into my bed…. He looks at me and waits.
And suddenly I know what he wants. “I can’t sing, Teddy. I can’t,” I say. “You sing.”
Teddy puts his hand up to my mouth.
I sigh.
“What do you want?”
“Baa, Baa,” he says, almost in a whisper.
… I sing for Teddy.
It’s written very simply, but with a charm and homey feel that makes it relatable to readers of all ages. Lucy’s little secret bond with Teddy, and the whole family-centeredness of the story! GAW! So beautiful!
Charmingly beautiful with rich messages wove craftily and powerfully within it.
One of my favorite quotes:
I wait, but Teddy doesn’t sing. He comes over and crawls into my bed…. He looks at me and waits.
And suddenly I know what he wants. “I can’t sing, Teddy. I can’t,” I say. “You sing.”
Teddy puts his hand up to my mouth.
I sigh.
“What do you want?”
“Baa, Baa,” he says, almost in a whisper.
… I sing for Teddy.
May 5, 2019
Lucy savors secrets and keeps two important ones hidden from her close-knit family. The five of them, along with Mama's three chickens, drive in a Volkswagen bus from Massachusetts to North Dakota to help an aunt during flooding season.
Patricia MacLachlan's characters really come to life in her brief novels, and this one is a stellar example of the author's ability to infuse so much humanity into her fiction. But the plot is fairly quiet for most of this story, with the real action being squished into chapters 5-8 and chapter 10 (of the book's 11 chapters). Because of that, I do wonder if this children's chapter book would hold the interest of its target audience. I enjoyed it quite a lot but I'm an adult reader who loves character-centric fiction.
Patricia MacLachlan's characters really come to life in her brief novels, and this one is a stellar example of the author's ability to infuse so much humanity into her fiction. But the plot is fairly quiet for most of this story, with the real action being squished into chapters 5-8 and chapter 10 (of the book's 11 chapters). Because of that, I do wonder if this children's chapter book would hold the interest of its target audience. I enjoyed it quite a lot but I'm an adult reader who loves character-centric fiction.
May 30, 2017
Oh goodness, Patricia MacLachlan has a way of evoking emotions in her books that to me is unmatched and sometimes it's almost too much for me--but luckily this book ends happily and that made it ok. I think. (Phew). I survived the hour it took to read the book but was indeed left with tears in my eyes. This book is written by my daughter's favorite author.
July 5, 2021
This little story opens on the plains of Minnesota and it hooked me right away. Maclachlan's stories start to mesh together after awhile though, so I recommend spacing them out, rather than sprinting through them as I am. Most are wholesome and absolutely lovely. I am adding a few to our home library.
November 4, 2021
I didn't love SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL—MacLachlan's most well-known book—so I was a little hesitant to read FLY AWAY. However, I needed a book set in North Dakota for a reading challenge and this one is a super fast read, so I went with it. I'm glad I did. Although the novel is short and easy-to-read, it tells a sweet, nuanced story that shows how each person in a family contributes, even if it's not in the same way. With an atmospheric setting; warm, likable characters; and rising floodwaters to keep the reader's attention, it's a compelling tale. FLY AWAY didn't knock my socks off or anything, but it kept me reading and rooting for the characters. It also has a lot more depth and staying power than I expected.
If I could, I'd give this book 3 1/2 stars. Since I can't, I'm rounding up.
If I could, I'd give this book 3 1/2 stars. Since I can't, I'm rounding up.
June 11, 2022
Un libro muy corto y hermoso, es de esos libros que te alegran el día de lo lindos que son, me encantaron todos los personajes.
May 5, 2023
I offered this as a suggestion to a patron based upon the synopsis so I had to read it!
It was great. There are two traumas in the story: a flood and a lost child.
How a family copes with both is the meat of the story. Seen through the eyes of Lucy. (or See for short) I liked it.
It was great. There are two traumas in the story: a flood and a lost child.
How a family copes with both is the meat of the story. Seen through the eyes of Lucy. (or See for short) I liked it.
February 10, 2018
Just continuing to read more from Patricia MacLachlan. I liked this one, has a strong sense of tension and drama, but also a quiet beauty. When Lucy's family goes to North Dakota to help a great aunt weather a flood that endangers her farm, Lucy must find her voice to help save her two-year-old brother.
August 16, 2015
Oh this book. This Gigantic-fonted 100 paged innocent looking thing. I read it in just an hour or so but it will stick with me for a long time. Patricia MacLachlan is talented. I haven't read her other works yet (but definitely will) but she writes complex ideas with minimal words. This is a book a young child could read easily, but it is not a simple boring story.
It's about family (I suspect most of this author's works are) and how one messy family came together when a flood was threatening their house. Frankie lives in the house her sister and she grew up in, but now, the river is coming and the family wants to help. "That river. She's a her in my book. She's been a friend most of these years, bringing boaters who deliver groceries. Bringing birds and beauty. We've lived through storms and sunrises and sunsets. Winter Squalls. I want to see how far she's going to crawl up my hill. I want to know if she'll come into my house. Sometimes I talk to her at night. She's great company."
So the river flood is happening, but as in real life so are a million other things too. Our main character, a child named Lucy secretly wants to be a poet, lives in a family of singers and cannot carry a tune. Her sister is an amazing artist but no one quite knows yet, and it turns out Lucy is the only one who knows her 2 year old brother Teddy can sing like an angel. He doesn't use words, but every night he sings just to his big sister. The adults have their problems too, but they are all through the lens of a child so it is felt, but not explained. The mother I related to more than I wanted to. Her youngest hasn't bonded with her as well, and she feels guilt over it. She also wants to be or do something more with her life but can't quite put her finger on it.
"No, it isn't you. Mama needs something all her own, that's all," he [Dad] says.
He goes out to where Mama is.
"Mama needs more than us," I say.
"Not really," says Frankie. "she just doesn't quite know what she has. She never did. She'll find that out one day. I promise."
If you are a mom, you know exactly how that feels, if you aren't there are other things in the story for you to relate to, and that's the brilliancy of it all. The whole book reads almost like a long poem, while still being accessible to anyone. More happens, secrets come out and the family comes together. I laugh because the little 2 year old is brilliant but quite. It reminded me so much of my little girl. We were so worried about her because she was a late talker, only to have her bust out counting to over ten shortly after she began saying "Mama."
Everyone is unique with something to offer. Everyone has secret dreams and hopes and this book gets that.
It's about family (I suspect most of this author's works are) and how one messy family came together when a flood was threatening their house. Frankie lives in the house her sister and she grew up in, but now, the river is coming and the family wants to help. "That river. She's a her in my book. She's been a friend most of these years, bringing boaters who deliver groceries. Bringing birds and beauty. We've lived through storms and sunrises and sunsets. Winter Squalls. I want to see how far she's going to crawl up my hill. I want to know if she'll come into my house. Sometimes I talk to her at night. She's great company."
So the river flood is happening, but as in real life so are a million other things too. Our main character, a child named Lucy secretly wants to be a poet, lives in a family of singers and cannot carry a tune. Her sister is an amazing artist but no one quite knows yet, and it turns out Lucy is the only one who knows her 2 year old brother Teddy can sing like an angel. He doesn't use words, but every night he sings just to his big sister. The adults have their problems too, but they are all through the lens of a child so it is felt, but not explained. The mother I related to more than I wanted to. Her youngest hasn't bonded with her as well, and she feels guilt over it. She also wants to be or do something more with her life but can't quite put her finger on it.
"No, it isn't you. Mama needs something all her own, that's all," he [Dad] says.
He goes out to where Mama is.
"Mama needs more than us," I say.
"Not really," says Frankie. "she just doesn't quite know what she has. She never did. She'll find that out one day. I promise."
If you are a mom, you know exactly how that feels, if you aren't there are other things in the story for you to relate to, and that's the brilliancy of it all. The whole book reads almost like a long poem, while still being accessible to anyone. More happens, secrets come out and the family comes together. I laugh because the little 2 year old is brilliant but quite. It reminded me so much of my little girl. We were so worried about her because she was a late talker, only to have her bust out counting to over ten shortly after she began saying "Mama."
Everyone is unique with something to offer. Everyone has secret dreams and hopes and this book gets that.
April 1, 2014
Fly Away is the story of Lucy, a girl who says she cannot sing. Her little brother barely talks, but sings perfectly in tune when no one else is listening but Lucy. All Lucy wants to do is to be able to sing like the rest of her family, but she keeps that inside of her and treasures the moments she has with her little brother. Her family is on the way to help her Aunt, who lives on land that always floods at this time of year.
Although she tells them not to come, Lucy's parents bear through and make it to Aunt Frankie's, just in time. This year, the flooding is worse and through it all, Lucy learns a lot. When her little brother goes missing, she knows she is the only one he will sing out to. Lucy must find her voice so she can sing their song and find her brother.
Fly Away was a touching story of family and how small things, though not perfect are important. Although a short read, Lucy's story is powerful and brought me to tears. There were so many great moments in the story that really had me thinking. I loved the friend of Aunt Frankie's, who was there to help and there was something more. I love that Maclachlan put in strains of stories that all tied together in a way that impacted the reader.
Although she tells them not to come, Lucy's parents bear through and make it to Aunt Frankie's, just in time. This year, the flooding is worse and through it all, Lucy learns a lot. When her little brother goes missing, she knows she is the only one he will sing out to. Lucy must find her voice so she can sing their song and find her brother.
Fly Away was a touching story of family and how small things, though not perfect are important. Although a short read, Lucy's story is powerful and brought me to tears. There were so many great moments in the story that really had me thinking. I loved the friend of Aunt Frankie's, who was there to help and there was something more. I love that Maclachlan put in strains of stories that all tied together in a way that impacted the reader.
June 23, 2014
This Newbery award-winning author never fails to produce a well-written, softly emotional book that leaves the reader smiling.
Fly Away is told from the perspective of the middle child, a young girl who loves her family, and is extremely bonded with her small brother. Longing to be able to sing, Maggie's secret is that she knows while her brother is slow in learning to talk, he can communicate with her through singing. Late at night, she hears his soft voice and intuitively connects to him.
Later, it is Maggie's bond that enables her to sing to her brother when he is in peril, thus saving his life.
When a beloved Aunt needs assistance because her farm is hit hard by a mega storm, the family drives many miles to help. The beauty of MacLachlan's writing is that amid the storm, she focus' on the calm.
While short in pages, this book is long on touching the soul.
Highly recommended!
Fly Away is told from the perspective of the middle child, a young girl who loves her family, and is extremely bonded with her small brother. Longing to be able to sing, Maggie's secret is that she knows while her brother is slow in learning to talk, he can communicate with her through singing. Late at night, she hears his soft voice and intuitively connects to him.
Later, it is Maggie's bond that enables her to sing to her brother when he is in peril, thus saving his life.
When a beloved Aunt needs assistance because her farm is hit hard by a mega storm, the family drives many miles to help. The beauty of MacLachlan's writing is that amid the storm, she focus' on the calm.
While short in pages, this book is long on touching the soul.
Highly recommended!
August 4, 2017
Read aloud to 8, 7, and 3. A beautiful story with real family themes, a couple too real for my kids to really, truly, grasp (Maggie's emotional reactions, Frankie's fierce independence), but poetically explained. The character development of the children was apparent to my kids, again poetically formed. I appreciate that the children responded to the story arch so well and had a taste here of good writing and craft. And that my typically nervous readers were able to handle the very real suspense at the climax of this story. The character Teddy kept us laughing, and the relationships are so endearing in this one. Overall a great read-aloud for our family. The 8 year old read it twice to herself during and after our shared reading.
December 1, 2016
I don't usually get very emotionally invested in these short chapter books (this one is barely over 100 pages), but this one was beautiful. Lucy and her quirky family made this so enjoyable: Lucy's father went to Harvard and then decided to be a farmer (he loves cows), her mother brings their three chickens with them everywhere, and her siblings are adorable. They all travel to help her aunt when the river near her house floods, and Lucy learns quite a bit about herself in the process. The relationship between Lucy and her two-year-old brother Teddy is one of the cutest things I've read this year.
January 15, 2015
This book spoke to me, especially about the singing. When someone tells me they can't sing, I always tell them it doesn't matter. Everyone should sing whether they think they are a good singer or not. Singing is good for the soul! I also liked that this book reminded me of nephew's three children. Thanks to Kris and Sue for peaking my interest and for loaning it to me!
Sue told me about the book "Sarah, Plain and Tall, by the same author and asked if Rachel had read it. I checked on Rachel's list of books she has read and it's on there. Rachel, I recumbent this book too!
Sue told me about the book "Sarah, Plain and Tall, by the same author and asked if Rachel had read it. I checked on Rachel's list of books she has read and it's on there. Rachel, I recumbent this book too!
May 27, 2014
Beautifully lyrical, this new Patricia MacLachlan story will be a quick and easy read for third and fourth graders -- if they don't abandon it first, unfortunately. I'm just not sure they will find the story as enchanting as I did, as the reflective nature of the story may lend itself better as a read aloud with some good mentor text possibilities. Lucy's poetry is particularly lovely. The relationship between Lucy, Gracie, Teddy, and their mom had me in tears by the final pages.
April 13, 2014
Quite simply, this book is near perfection. Every chapter, paragraph, sentence, and word are artfully arranged and beautifully woven into this heart-warming story.
Everyone has their song to sing, their picture to draw, their poem to write, their story to tell.
Everyone has their song to sing, their picture to draw, their poem to write, their story to tell.
August 28, 2014
No one writes families better than MacLachlan. A beautiful book rich with discussion opportunities.
August 2, 2017
Please don't overlook this story based on the large, easy-to-read text. This book is one kids might enjoy but adults should treasure. It's easy enough for a 2nd grader to read, but the sweet, gentle text shows characters you can't help but love. Boots and Mama are the head of a blue-collar family traveling to help their kin survive a flood. Lucy feels left out of her musically gifted family. She can't sing like them and she feels she has no voice. In fact, she thinks she's got more in common with her baby brother, Teddy, who doesn't speak yet. She and Teddy have a secret. Teddy can't speak, but he can sing; Lucy can't sing, but she secretly writes poetry. These two become central to the story in the midst of the flood.
Although I have never heard the song the story is based upon, Fly Away was a little gem of a book. I am richer for having read it. Even if you don't have kids, pretend you do and grab this book!
Although I have never heard the song the story is based upon, Fly Away was a little gem of a book. I am richer for having read it. Even if you don't have kids, pretend you do and grab this book!
March 7, 2024
It's always hard to categorize books from Patricia MacLachlan. This one is a slim 103 pages but the main character seems to be somewhere between 10 and 14. The cover doesn't really help, though it is a beautiful stormy painting from Amy June Bates. Like many of Patricia's books, this one is quiet and smooth like the surface of a stream—until it isn't. And one is never quite sure where her story will lead. She skims the surface of disaster and brings us so close to real life within the pages that it's impossible to know for sure how it's going to work itself out. Yet somehow by the final page, the author sends the message everything is going to be all right. But she never glosses over hard truths or scary realities. She faces them in the most compassionate way so young readers can face the fears and carry on. There are some beautiful gems in Fly Away, for sure, though it doesn't rank among my favorites comparatively, and yet here is this glowing review in which every word is true.
January 27, 2019
Written simply, this book is a godsend for young readers who are ready to venture out into the world of fiction. There is plenty of drama here. Lucy’s family resolutely travels to their relative, Frankie’s house to help her combat the flood that threateningly spills out of the Red River. As if this weren’t enough, Lucy’s brother, Teddy goes missing, thus necessitating her to use her voice to find him. Never mind the slight fact that she thinks that she can’t sing. And after Lucy sings, she gains affirmation as a poet from her beloved family, particularly her dad. What an eventful tale of inner conflict and external turmoil!
April 25, 2018
As part of my goal to read more children's books, this year, I remembered MacLachlan's Sarah Plain and Tall. Another book, Fly Away is a lovely story about a family coming back to the family farm during a flood. Through a series of adventures, each person reveals their special place in the family.
This would be a wonderful first chapter book to give to a child - simple chapters and not too long.
This would be a wonderful first chapter book to give to a child - simple chapters and not too long.
June 4, 2018
Beautiful, and an odd mix of plausible and implausible, which is a puzzlement I find is true in a lot of her chapter books. (Not, like, "magical realism" implausible, more of a "six-year-olds don't talk in such a self-consciously literary way" implausible (to pick on just one example)- the details are strange...)
October 22, 2018
This is one of the best Patricia Maclachlan books I've read. It just had such a sweet feel to it. Lucy was just about the sweetest. And Teddy!! I wish I had a little brother like that. =)
Most of Maclachlan's books touch on family issuses, and this one has one very brief mention of one, but it was so light I almost felt like it wasn't a part of the book.
Most of Maclachlan's books touch on family issuses, and this one has one very brief mention of one, but it was so light I almost felt like it wasn't a part of the book.
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December 2, 2019This book was written from the perspective of a young girl who loves to write. She particularly loves to write poetry. She feels misunderstood at times and is trying to find her place in her family. On a trip to visit distant relatives, a terrible storm takes place, and the family must band together even in the face of grave danger. I would absolutely include this book in my classroom.
November 26, 2022
This was a fun little read in preparation for a middle grade literature circle. I really like how the author has written this story in a way that is accessible for a student reading his/her first deeper level chapter book. I am using it for a literature circle and have found great examples of figurative language types plus the kids are loving it.
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