Flight of the Puffin by Ann Braden

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 bathroom facilities. 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. I did not look closely enough - the wings of the puffin are filled with city buildings - US readers might recognise these places. 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

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.

Wishtree

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

She drops coins on the footpath (sidewalk) as a tiny way to give other kids moments of happiness

The Kindness Project

The Summer We Found the Baby by Amy Hest

 

Julie Sweet and her little sister Martha find a baby on the steps of the library. The sisters have come to the library because today is the day the new children's library will be opened and they are hoping a very special guest will arrive to cut the ribbon. Julie, aged eleven, has even made a cake for the celebration but all of this goes out of her mind when she sees the baby on the library steps in a carry basket. 

Julie picks up the basket and heads off to the beach with her little sister tagging behind. Where did this baby come from? Bruno sees Julie pick up the basket. He sees there is a note inside. He and Julie used to be friends but something has gone seriously wrong and she won't speak to him even though he lives next door.  Little Martha adores Bruno's mum Mrs Ben Eli. Mr and Mrs Ben Eli run the local store in this seaside place and Summer is their busiest time. Bruno is sure Julie is kidnapping the baby so he feels he has to follow her. He did have a more urgent plan for that day having just received a letter from his brother who is serving in the army. The letter told Bruno to catch the train to New York to find his brother Ben's girl friend, Tess. 

This story is told in three voices - Julie, Martha and Bruno - and as we read we slowly piece together the events of the Summer, why Julie is not speaking to Bruno, the importance of letters from young soldiers and a little about Julie and Martha's mum who died many years ago. 

I selected this book because I have read and enjoyed other books by Amy Hest and as you can see I have given this five stars. I highly highly recommend this book for readers aged 9+. It is a short book with lots of white space and empty pages between scenes. I read the whole thing in less than an hour. Read more plot details by Ms Yingling.

Warm family stories laced with some sorrow and great joy. Kirkus star review

Throughout the tale, Hest juxtaposes childish bickering with the heavy weight of grief and ultimately hope in the form Eleanor Roosevelt. Historical novel society

This brief story unfolds in short vignettes which prove surprisingly engaging and will draw the reader in quickly. Kids Book a Day

Catching falling stars by Karen McCombie

Bombs are falling on London. Children have been evacuated but not Glory (Gloria) and her young brother Rich (Richard). A year ago their parents worked in the sweet factory in their neighbourhood but now it is 1940 and factory has been changed over to munitions. Mum now works in a parachute factory. Dad stayed with the factory and at night he works with the civil defence force. As this story opens The air raid siren sounds. Mum, Glory and Rich race to the Anderson shelter in their backyard. A bomb is dropped and their neighbour is killed. Glory and Rich are badly injured and so mum makes the heart wrenching decision to send the kids to stay with strangers in the country.

People in the village of Thorntree seem distant and unkind. Glory and Rich move in with Miss Saunders. Glory is sure this strangely distant lady does not want them to stay especially with Rich being such a nervous kid. Glory tries to understand the other kids in the village - Jess is another evacuee and so is a silent boy called Archie. Lawrence is the son of the farmer Mr Wills. Miss Saunders does not like Jess, Archie or Lawrence and she avoids Mr Wills. Glory needs to find out why? She also needs to re-examine her own reactions to the villagers. When she stops to listen to Jess, Archie and Lawrence she discovers they are not teasing her precious brother and they are not laughing at her behind her back. Making peace and acknowledging mistakes are important milestones for Glory.

"Please call me, Glory, Miss Saunders,' I say softly, words tumbling form my mouth before I can stop myself. Miss Saunders studies me carefully for an unnerving minute or two. 'Very well, Glory,' she says finally. 'But only if you will call me Auntie Sylvia."

Life in the country is especially good for little Rich. He overcomes some of his fears and is able to melt the heart of Miss Saunders. The war has changed everything for Glory and Rich and their arrival in the village precipitates a series of events which help undo the misunderstandings and hurts of the past. This is an emotional story especially the final chapter which is set in 2015 - seventy years after the end of WWII. It felt so good to learn what happened to Glory, Rich, Jess, Archie and Lawrence. Such is the power of this writing that I found myself really caring about these kids.

Read some reviews for more plot details:

Books For Keeps

The Bookbag

If you loved Goodnight Mr Tom; The War that saved my Life; and Vinnie's War you will most certainly want to add Catching falling stars to your "to read" list.

I had not heard of UK author Karen McCombie but she has written over ninety books. I certainly need to hunt out some of her middle grade titles.

The Orphan band of Springdale by Anne Nesbet

"(The) letter described some lamentable instances of exploitation and injustice ... So I've come, to support the fine work of the Federation of Woolen and Worsted Workers and to organize our brothers and sisters in the mills and shoe factories."

Gusta is a character who will linger with me for a long time. She is wise, determined and strong. It is 1941 and later this same year America will enter WWII. Suspicion is growing against 'aliens'. Neubronner sounds foreign and so does Bertmann. Even more suspicious Mr Bertmann, the oculist, has pigeons and he is training them to carry cameras.  But Mr Bertmann is a true friend to Gusta. He is able to provide her with glasses and suddenly her world comes into focus.

Gusta and her father are travelling to Springdale in Maine but on their last stop her father leaves the bus and does not return. Gusta is so worried about him. Men are hunting him.

"Their eyes looked like mysterious dark pools to Gusta. ...and the men were in uniforms, and that was how she knew the thing they had been dreading and expecting all these months, even years ... "

Gusta has with her a French Horn. At the orphanage, run by her grandmother, she meets a wonderful girl called Josie. Josie has a beautiful singing voice so the girls form their band with Gusta's cousin Bess but this is just a diversion from the real issues driving Gusta.  She meets her uncle and learns about his factory accident. His hand is bound up tight with scars and he has been dismissed. Gusta's father, a union activist, has shown her workers have rights. Gusta is determined to right this wrong and help her uncle but she will need a lot of money to do this.  If you click on either of the review quotes below you can read more of the plot.

Initially I liked the cover but now that I have read this gutsy book about unions and human rights I am not so sure - it is perhaps a little too 'pretty'.  I rarely give star ratings as you know but I give The Orphan Band of Springdale 5 stars out of 5. I especially enjoyed all the tension created by Anne Nesbet as Gusta finds herself in one predicament after another. This is a book which should be in your school library.

A big thank you to Beachside Bookshop for giving me this advanced reader copy of The Orphan Band of Springdale.  Here is an audio sample from the first chapter of this book.  Here is a detailed set of discussion questions.  This book would be perfect for a senior grade book discussion group.  Read an interview with the author.  I would follow this book with another favourite of mine -  Bread and Roses, too.

Sometimes suspenseful and always engaging, this snapshot of determined Gusta and life before the war is sure to captivate readers. Kirkus

Sometimes kids just need a book to cozy up with in an overstuffed chair, a secluded treehouse, or a nest of pillows. This is exactly that book. Elizabeth Bush