Flying Lessons [Hardcover]

Kezi Matthews (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 11 and up | Grade Level: 6 and up

In 1937 — the summer that Amelia Earhart disappears — 13-year-old LaMarr’s flamboyant mother, Charmaine, flies off with a stunt pilot and doesn’t return. Sent to live with an aunt and uncle, LaMarr awaits her mother’s return while attempting to track down her long-lost father. A crusty old man, a former Teddy Roosevelt Rough Rider, befriends her. The old man’s friendship and wisdom help LaMarr finally accept the probability that her mother is gone forever. Kezi Matthews was the recipient of a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year for John Riley's Daughter. “Matthews ... sees all her characters, even the most deeply flawed, with a compassionate eye.” — Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Matthews (Scorpio's Child) again offers a resonant novel exploring a youngster's immense loss and gradual healing. As the tale opens in 1937, the 13-year-old narrator, LaMarr, is on a bus heading to South Carolina. "I was scared-so deep down inside that it felt like my bones were crumbling," she says, then explains that several days earlier the plane carrying her dancer mother and her mother's stunt-pilot beau disappeared over the ocean. Settling into the home of her mother's warm, big-hearted brother and his cool, crusty wife, LaMarr bottles up her loneliness and fright, certain that a letter from her mother will arrive any day. The girl strikes up a saving friendship with a wise elderly man-a writer of pulp westerns-who alone recognizes the depth of her sorrow. Together, the two track the around-the-world flight of LaMarr's idol Amelia Earhart on a map tacked to the wall. The disappearance of her plane triggers a dramatic catharsis: "Something wild and dark rose up inside me, like a tornado... and whatever it was holding me together gave way." A mystical element involving angels seems underdeveloped and incompletely integrated. However, the author tightly weaves together the tale's remaining threads to create an eloquent and affecting work. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-8-Matthews has incorporated themes of death and personal loss with the reality of coping with and accepting the truth. It's 1937, and 13-year-old LaMarr Conroy is traveling with her mother's dance troupe, dreaming of becoming a female pilot like her idol, Amelia Earhart. Her introduction to and consequent love of flying comes about when her mother's stunt-pilot boyfriend takes her on a trial flight. Her adventurous life is suddenly shattered when her mother and the boyfriend take off in his plane and are presumed lost. Determined that her mother has only gone to Hollywood to become a star, LaMarr is forced to move in with relatives she has never met: her mother's understanding and compassionate brother and his wife, a no-nonsense, rigid nurse. LaMarr's vagabond, theatrical lifestyle and her fatherless situation are frowned upon by her aunt yet tolerated and even absolved by her uncle. Strong characterization comes through the voice of the young protagonist as she describes her new kinfolk and her relationships with the black maid, who offers her stability, and with the downstairs boarder, a wheelchair-bound writer of Western novels who provides subtle, emotional support. Matthews brings the story to a realistic open-ended conclusion, using both the imagery and analogy of Earhart's tragic end together with the insightful relationship that LaMarr develops with her new family and adult friends. A poignant look at a difficult adjustment to death within a coming-of-age scenario.
Rita Soltan, formerly at Baldwin Public Library, Birmingham, MI
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Cricket Books; 1 edition (October 11, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812626710
• ISBN-13: 978-0812626711
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,581,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful poignant story, December 9, 2002

By 

Rukhsana (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flying Lessons (Hardcover)

I thought this was an exquisitely written book that deals so well with a historical time period in the eyes of a little girl.

Ms. Matthews blends the situation of women at the time, the exhilaration of possibilities, the love of flying and the loss of an American icon all into a beautifully crafted whole. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and look forward to more from this very talented author.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Book!, January 8, 2003

By 

Gracie Ann Cordell (Beaverton, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flying Lessons (Hardcover)

If you like pie in the sky, this is not your book! If you like strong stories about real people dealing with real life, any of Ms. Matthews' terrific novels fills the bill! They're some of the best books written for young adults today! I have to say that Flying Lessons blew me away. It's a book about a young girl surviving her own messed-up life and it goes straight to your heart. In the end, you want to hug LaMarr Conroy for her strength and courage in making it through what will probably be the worst time of her life! Loved it!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All that's right in children's lit today, December 3, 2002

By 

Tracie Vaughn Zimmer (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Flying Lessons (Hardcover)

I felt absolutely transported in time throughout this book, and really enjoyed walking along for a few hours inside the skin of LaMarr. The thing I love best about it is that Ms. Matthews never pretends that there is a simple, all encompassing, perfect ending to the messiness of life. I think kids need that kind of honesty, and I appreciate it being wrapped in such a wonderful package. But, that's the big picture, and I love the small details of this book too, like I got hungry every time Japonica's fabulous cooking was mentioned! This is a book to be savored, and shared!