Cammie Takes Flight

Cammie #2

by Laura Best

Eleven-year-old Cammie Turple grew up with more obstacles than most. Visually impaired and abandoned by her parents, she was raised by her tenacious, bootlegging aunt in rural Tanner, Nova Scotia. After Cammie and her best friend, Evelyn Merry, destroy the local moonshine still, forcing Evelyn's abusive, alcoholic father to sober up but nearly killing Evelyn in the process, Cammie convinces her aunt to send her to the Halifax School for the Blind. The anticipated follow-up to Flying with a Broken Wing , Cammie Takes Flight finds Cammie navigating life at her new school, armed with an envelope with her estranged mother's address on it. Unsure if she can trust her new friend, Nessa, Cammie enlists her help in tracking to help track her mother down. Will Cammie finally learn why she was abandoned and be able to start her new life? Or will she find too many secrets to count, and realize that she might never put the past behind her? A heartfelt coming-of-age story, Cammie Takes Flight explores the values of perseverance, unlikely friendships, and what it means to be a family.

Genres: Realistic Fiction, Fiction

172 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 30, 2017

Reviews

[Darlene Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cammie Takes Flight, the sequel to Flying with a Broken Wing, can easily be read as a stand-alone. Cammie, the tough, sight-impaired, eleven-year-old has left the small town of Tanner, Nova Scotia and is attending the Halifax School for the Blind. She feels out of her depth as she makes new friends and a few enemies. The author once again has created a determined young girl on a quest to find the mother who gave her up as a baby to be raised by her bootlegging Aunt Millie. Cammie doesn’t always make the best decisions as she tries to figure out the mysteries of her life. She learns a lot about life and herself in this page turner with many twists and turns. One can’t help but cheer for Cammie with her down-home, no-nonsense approach to life. At one point she says, “You can dress your life up all you want, forget about who you used to be, but getting rid of the past isn’t as easy as taking off your dirty old underwear and kicking it under the bed.” This well-written story about a young person who yearns to be wanted has a satisfying ending, one you won’t see coming. As Cammie says, “Hope doesn’t always make sense, but sometimes it’s the only thing you have!” I highly recommend this feel-good book.

[Diane McGyver · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The full moon reaches its fingers through the tree branches and grabs at the furniture in my bedroom."

In my opinion, this is the best line written by Laura Best in Cammie Takes Flight. There are many good lines in the book, but this one instantly created an image that made me pause.
We were introduced to young Cammie Deveau of Tanner, Nova Scotia, in Flying with a Broken Wing. She was living with her Aunt Millie then and at the end of that story, we learn her world was about to expand greatly.

The opening of Cammie Takes Flight puts us in the Halifax School for the Blind, where Cammie is adjusting to life in the big city, making new friends and trying to make sense of the actions of her father, Ed, and her Aunt Millie. Her ultimate goal turns out to be finding her mother, who had abandoned her at birth and who supposedly lives in Halifax.

Cammie Takes Flight was written with young readers in mind, but adults will also enjoy the story as Cammie does her best to put on a brave face and sort out the mess she thinks is her life. I won’t reveal any spoilers, but I’ll say the history of the city of Halifax and the School for the Blind were well researched, and will provide an intimate look at what life was like for the blind and visually impaired in the 1940s.

This book is a wonderful follow-up to Flying with a Broken Wing. It provides a satisfying read to answer questions that lingered after the last page of that first book.

[Sue Slade · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Cammie Takes Flight’ by Laura Best was an excellent sequel to ‘Flying With A Broken Wing’. I was so pleased that Cammie continues in this story to be a force of nature with a mouthful of local slang and phrases. Throughout this story, she was completely focused on solving the mystery of who her mother was and without spoiling the story I will say that it had a very satisfying ending. I wonder if we will get to see Cammie and her best friend Evelyn again as teens?

The majority of the story takes place in the Halifax School of The Blind which closed in 1983 and was replaced by Sir Frederick Fraser School for the Blind. In the early 1990s, I did a work placement at Sir Fred’s which initially attracted me to reading this story.

[Shari]

I loved this heartfelt and compelling historical fiction coming-of-age story about a visually impaired girl seeking to unravel the mystery of her family background while attending the Halifax School for the Blind. Nominated for the 2018 Silver Birch fiction award.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its AMAZINGGG.

[mawadda · Rating 4 out of 5]

omg! i loved this! it started out really boring in my opinion, but i have gotta admit that this book became one of my favourites which i did not expect. there are some typos though, but the main idea is pretty great! i especially loved the last few chapters. when i first started it, i wasnt even able to keep going because i found the chapters a bit longer than books im used to, but in general, i loved this so much! would definitely recommend!

[Jaime · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven't read the first book and found this book to be just "meh". Story was ok but didn't really get invested in the characters.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

a wonderful story! review coming