The Other

by Laurie Foos

Ava was born with wings. No one called them that until she was two years old. She hides her wings under a special device her father made for her. She never takes off her backpack at school. No one knows her secret, even her best friend Theo, who was born with two different-colored eyes. The doctor told Ava that she can choose to have the wings removed when she turns sixteen.

The big day arrives, and she can’t decide what to do. Without her wings, Ava thinks she can be like everybody else. But is that what she really wants? When Ava makes a new friend at school, she begins to see things—and herself—in new ways. Lucy offers her friendship and exquisite drawings of wings. Lucy makes Ava think.

THE OTHER asks us to consider what it means to be different and what it means to accept the unique parts of ourselves.

88 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2022

Reviews

[Samantha Kolber · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet story about belonging and friendship with an odd twist and magical realism. Accessible and easy to read and a lovely story to escape into for a short time.

[Julia L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Laurie Foos is skilled at couching everyday metaphors in magical realism (see: a woman literally losing her uterus and a giant baby growing from a garden), and does a great job of capturing the perspective of her young child characters. In The Other, Foos presents a charmingly awkward and endearing protagonist on the verge of self-discovery and growth--an impressive feat for the book's short 10K word length. There is so much to relate to in Ava's story, and her fantastical wings tie in nicely with the more grounded themes of not fitting in, friendship, and young love. If you are, or have ever been, a teenager who feels so out of place in the world that you may as well have wings growing out of your back, you will love this story about embracing differences and learning to love your wings.

[Rachel Teferet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really lovely book!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was super sweet. The ending fell a tiny bit flat for me. Important lessons about individuality. Not sure if this is specifically YA, but if not, it does need to be designated as such.