{"id":39694,"date":"2021-08-09T17:03:46","date_gmt":"2021-08-09T21:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=39694"},"modified":"2021-08-09T17:03:46","modified_gmt":"2021-08-09T21:03:46","slug":"review-of-flight-of-the-puffin-by-ann-braden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=39694","title":{"rendered":"Review of Flight of the Puffin, by Ann Braden"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Flight of the Puffin<\/em><\/p>\n

by Ann Braden<\/p>\n

Nancy Paulsen Books (Penguin Random House), 2021. 229 pages.
\nReview written July 8, 2021, from a library book
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

Flight of the Puffin<\/em> follows four different kids, each of them a bit of a misfit. We\u2019re only given the locations of two of the four, and they\u2019re on opposite sides of the country, so we\u2019re interested in finding out how the stories will connect.<\/p>\n

I love the beginning. Libby is painting the best sunrise ever. And as she works on it, making it colorful and beautiful, the principal steps around the corner, and we discover she\u2019s painting on a wall of the school.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s Jack, who goes to a small two-room school in Vermont. He\u2019s good with the younger kids, and misses his brother, who was six when he died. Next we meet T. T has a shorter chapter, sleeping on a sidewalk with their dog. The fourth person we meet is Vincent, who\u2019s decided he wants to be like a puffin. Instead of the t-shirts his mother buys for him, he finds an old button-down white shirt with a small puffin, and that represents him. But it doesn\u2019t make him fit in at school.<\/p>\n

The kids are all seventh graders. They\u2019re on opposite ends of the country. Libby\u2019s up against her parents not appreciating her need to make art and spread joy with it. Jack is up against the school board that wants to close their school. Vincent is up against bullies. And T is up against survival.<\/p>\n

And Flora\u2019s art \u2013 and puffins \u2013 end up connecting them. It\u2019s a lovely book with some threads about trans kids without that taking up the whole book. Mostly, these four kids are deeply nuanced characters it\u2019s a delight to spend time with.<\/p>\n

annbradenbooks.com<\/a>
\npenguin.com\/kids<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Fiction\/flight_of_the_puffin.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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