The chapters in this book alternate between four voices and cover the time from April 30th to May 21st.
Who are these kids?
Libby lives in Vermont. She sees the world through colours and creates her own equilibrium through art and using coloured pencils. Her school does not appreciate her art especially when she paints a whole wall at her Middle School. Libby lives with her mother and angry father. Her mother has no understanding of Libby and in one dreadful scene she confiscates all of Libby's pencils and art supplies.
Maybe things would be easier if I could do a better job of staying closed-up. Like if I didn’t wear my yellow polka-dot sweatshirt all the time. Maybe then Danielle wouldn’t have teased me, and I wouldn’t have lost my temper and punched her, and I’d still be on the softball team.
Vincent lives in Seattle with his mum. He is probably on the Autism spectrum. He loves quirky clothes, tucking in his shirt, triangles and puffins including a breakfast cereal called Puffins. Because he is different he is very badly bullied at school but the reasons or motivations for this are a deep puzzle for Vincent.
I take out the shirt and look at it closely. There’s a little embroidered emblem of a bird on the top right. It’s a puffin. Like the bird on the cereal box that my mom gets. And its beak has some fabulous triangle action going on. Katherine Johnson would approve. I pull on the shirt and button it up. I guess I’ve grown, because it’s super snug. But it feels good, ...
Jack also lives in Vermont. Spoiler alert - we don't know how but Jack's younger brother has died recently. Jack goes to a very small school which has just two teachers. A officious lade arrives at the school to inspect their compliance with rules such as Jack has been taught in this school to think and to act so he starts a petition to save his school and then he speaks at the local school board meeting. Unfortunately his message is interpreted completely wrongly and then social media takes over.
The school might have to close? It can’t. Next year is my eighth-grade year. How could I spend it somewhere else? And what would happen to all of us? Just farmed out to a bunch of different schools in the valley, where all the students think they’re better than hicks like us?
T is a homeless non binary youth living on the streets of Seattle with their dog. These chapters are brief and told in verse.
From these descriptions you can probably guess these kids need help and hope. Libby is given some small index cards. She writes "you are amazing" on the card with a picture of a dandelion. Decorating and writing on index cards is how it all starts. She hides her first card for a small boy who is crying outside the dentist. Then she makes more cards and even though she is grounded she sneaks out at night and puts her little cards in various places all over the town.
I start to stick the index cards all over the place—in a window box outside the pharmacy; in the bike rack at the library; attached to an ATM; in the window of the art supply store; on the steps into the ice cream shops; on a bulletin board outside the senior center; and stuck into the hedge between the hardware store and the post office. Even if no one thinks to pick one up, at least they’re adding more flowers and sunshine to the world. That has to count for something.
Libby hears about a boy in Seattle who loves puffins but is having a hard time. She puts his address on the back of one of her index cards, adds a puffin stamp (I know this is a little contrived, but it made me smile) and she posts her card - it is going to Vincent.
I talk a lot and think a lot about book covers. This book has a fabulous cover BUT it totally misled me. I assumed (wrongly) that this book would have a North American indigenous focus. You probably already know I am slightly obsessive about puffins so the title grabbed me right away. But this book is not really about puffins either although they are mentioned.
You can hear the first chapters here. And you can read a chapter sample. You can see other books by Ann Braden here. If you need another viewpoint the Kirkus reviewer didn't like Flight of the Puffin.
This is a story that is rich in truth, sadness, redemption, and possibilities. It is a wonderful book that I would recommend to teens, middle school and above, as it deals with bullying, gender issues, and family tragedy. Kathleen Palmieri
Here is a quote that resonated with me:
I start to stick the index cards all over the place—in a window box outside the pharmacy; in the bike rack at the library; attached to an ATM; in the window of the art supply store; on the steps into the ice cream shops; on a bulletin board outside the senior center; and stuck into the hedge between the hardware store and the post office. Even if no one thinks to pick one up, at least they’re adding more flowers and sunshine to the world. That has to count for something. that, she kept putting them out into the world. Even when it was pouring rain. Kept putting love into the world anyway. “This is so cool,” I tell Joey. “What do you say we make cards to send to someone else who needs cheering up?” “Yeah!” he says.
Vincent loves to eat this cereal - I wonder what it tastes like? The box has facts about puffins which Vincent reads over breakfast.
Flight of the Puffin is the March selection for an online Children's book group I follow on Facebook. I am fairly sure that without this group this book would have passed me by because I am not sure it ever arrived here in Australia and it was published in 2022 which means it will be hard to find. I read an ebook edition. I did find this copy from an Australian online bookseller.
I love the idea of these index cards as a way to spread happiness. It made me think of Wishtree and also Stargirl.
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
She drops coins on the footpath (sidewalk) as a tiny way to give other kids moments of happiness
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