Flight Risk

by Jennifer Fenn

Overview

Jennifer Fenn's debut novel inspired by true events, about a teenage boy who has stolen—and crashed—not one, but three airplanes. And each time he’s walked away unscathed.

Who is Robert Jackson Kelly? Is he a juvenile delinquent? A criminal mastermind? A folk hero? One thing is clear: Robert always defies what people think of him. And now, the kid who failed at school, relationships, and almost everything in life, is determined to successfully steal and land a plane.

Told as an investigation into Robert’s psyche, the narrative includes multiple points of view as well as documentary elements like emails, official records, and interviews with people who knew Robert. Ultimately, Flight Risk is a thrilling story about one teenager who is determined to find a moment of transcendence after everyone else has written him off as lost.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626727601
Publisher:	Roaring Brook Press
Publication date:	07/18/2017
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.40(d)
Lexile:	HL820L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Jennifer Fenn has worked as a middle school language arts teacher and has had short fiction and essays published in numerous publications. She lives with her husband, daughter, and Scottish terrier in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Flight Risk is her debut novel.

Editorial Reviews

06/26/2017
Debut author Fenn tells a multilayered story of identity, ambition, and societal expectations as she chronicles the misadventures of Robert Jackson Kelley, who becomes known as the Lollipop Kid after he steals and crashes three private airplanes. Through newspaper articles, interviews, discipline records, and flashbacks, Fenn fleshes out Robert’s history as a juvenile delinquent from a broken home, detailing his obsession with flight simulators and yearning to escape the small Washington State island he calls home. Sent to a youth home after a drug bust, Robert eventually escapes and steals the first of several planes, an act that turns him into a local legend, makes him the subject of a widespread manhunt, and inadvertently gives rise to a minor pop culture movement. Inspired by the true story of the so-called Barefoot Bandit, this story moves slowly but steadily through the years, building a larger-than-life aura around Robert. However, for all the focus on him, he remains something of an enigma in his own narrative. Ages 12–up. Agent: Amy Tipton, Signature Literary. (July)

Publishers Weekly

06/01/2017
Gr 9 Up—A debut novel inspired by true events. Robert Jackson Kelley idolizes his fugitive father, Robert Kelley Senior. He is proud of his dad's accomplishments as an Operation Desert Storm war hero. Robert spends most of his time with his beloved beagle mix, Hulk, and his flight simulator. He is a poor student and, with the exception of Joey Kovach, has few friends. Robert wants to leave his trailer park home to become an air force pilot, but his aspirations go awry when he and Joey are expelled from high school for selling Robert's mother Deb's Adderall pills. Right before Robert is transferred to Sea Brook Youth Home, Deb blurts out a huge revelation about Robert Senior's checkered past. Robert escapes and hides out in unlocked homes, steals and crashes three planes, walks away unscathed, and is labeled a juvenile delinquent and a criminal mastermind by the media. The teen becomes a folk hero nicknamed the Lollipop Kid, with a rock song dedicated to him. Fenn deftly portrays Robert and Deb as ordinary working-class citizens. Robert's story is told through multiple points of view and documentary sources. Fenn pulls readers in with her coverage of three decades of American political and social issues. There are numerous references to the 2016 election and the Trump administration: the book focuses on the working class, uses the term flight risk to reference the Muslim travel ban, includes a Megyn Kelly—esque talk show host character, and describes Canada as a fugitive refuge. VERDICT Teens will love the documentary-style narrative and will root for underdog antihero Robert.—Donald Peebles, Brooklyn Public Library

School Library Journal

2017-04-17
A teenage boy with attention issues tries to escape his small town in Washington by stealing and crashing small planes from local airfields.Readers meet 18-year-old Robert Jackson Kelley on his final flight, after he's stolen, flown, and crash-landed a series of planes in the small vacation town of Yannatok before being apprehended by local police and sentenced to 10 years in a maximum security prison. In faux-documentary style, Fenn constructs a thorough if somewhat sluggish chronicle of Robert's childhood and adolescence, detailing the mental, physical, and societal factors that led to his unusual crime spree. These include ADHD issues, a single working mom who pays scant attention to him, a father in prison, and a spotty school record. That none of these factors is race combines with absence of markers to imply a white default. Robert's story, based on the real-life exploits of teen plane thief Colton Harris-Moore, is relayed in a crisp, journalistic style, peppered with fictional interviews, talk-show transcripts, and newspaper articles. Though the package promises a pacey thriller, Robert doesn't crash his first plane until almost 200 pages in, which may cause some readers to give up before the exciting third act, which is rife with police chases, vacation-home burglaries, and, of course, plane crashes. Too much time on the tarmac, not enough time in the air. (Fiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews

"Teens will love the documentary-style narrative and will root for underdog antihero Robert." —School Library Journal

"Fenn has penned an original, thrilling tale with wide appeal, including for older reluctant readers." —Booklist

"The primary focus, through Robert’s narration, is painfully vivid, putting the reader into the jumpy, erratic consciousness of a boy who really ought to have been taking his medication. Besides that internal exploration, the novel also interrogates the public's fascination with criminals who gain cult status by evading capture." —VOYA

"Debut author Fenn tells a multilayered story of identity, ambition, and societal expectations as she chronicles the misadventures of Robert Jackson Kelley. . . . Inspired by the true story of the so-called Barefoot Bandit, this story moves slowly but steadily through the years, building a larger-than-life aura around Robert." —Publishers Weekly

"The exciting third act . . . is rife with police chases, vacation-home burglaries, and, of course, plane crashes." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher