Learning to Fly

by Paul Yee

Overview

Jason is an outsider. A recent immigrant from China, he lives in a close-minded town with his mother and younger brother. Falling in with the wrong crowd, trying to fit in, Jason takes chances and ends up in trouble with the police. Holding on to his friendship with an Indigenous boy, also an outsider, Jason finds he needs to fight to belong and to find a new home.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781554696604
Publisher:	Orca Book Publishers
Publication date:	10/01/2008
Series:	Orca Soundings Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	112
Sales rank:	752,995
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Paul Yee is one of Canada's finest writers for children. He was raised in Vancouver and has worked in the archives at the Vancouver Museum. He won the Governor General's Literary Award for Children's Literature for Ghost Train. He now lives in Toronto.

Read an Excerpt

The train swings around the curve. Its one headlight races toward us. High on the engine's nose, a window glints. The ground is shaking. I watch the train. It comes closer and closer. I dash to the tracks, watching a fence on the other side. Noise and wind swallow me. I jump.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 7-10

An immigrant from China, Jason, 17, struggles with his father's betrayal of his mother when he left her for another woman and the underlying sentiments of racism in a small Canadian town. Smoking pot is his way of coping, and, because of this habit, he finds himself with a new group of friends. While he is happy that some people have accepted him, he also feels that he has fallen in with the wrong crowd. The exception is Chief, a First Nations boy who can identify with some of what Jason experiences as a minority. They both must make life-altering decisions when Jason gets charged with drug trafficking and tragedy befalls Chief's family. While the book should be a draw for reluctant readers, the brevity of the story leaves little room for character development or resolution. Those looking for titles covering similar issues with a broader emotional range may prefer Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese (Roaring Brook, 2006) or An Na's A Step from Heaven (Front St., 2001).-Joanna K. Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

Seventeen-year-old Jason is having a hard time adjusting to life as a new Chinese immigrant in a small Ontario town. His parents have split, and he must work long hours in his mom's deli to help out. Lonely and disenfranchised, he's made no friends, save the potheads he gets stoned with, and is often the butt of school bullies' jokes. Then he meets Chief, a First Nations teen whose life is much harder than his own. When Jason is arrested for marijuana possession while making a buy from his dealer and Chief's sister dies from an overdose, the two loners lean on each other to make it through. Like other Orca Soundings titles, this novel discusses high-interest topics like drug use, racism and bullying at a comprehension level that is comfortable for reluctant readers. Yee, the author of several works for teen readers, employs a spare writing style that is well suited to this format. Interested readers may also enjoy his similarly themed short-story collection What Happened This Summer (2006). (Fiction. 12-14)

Kirkus Reviews

"While maintaining young readers' interest in the plot, Yee's novel will also help them to develop and gain confidence in their reading skills."

CM Magazine

"Engage[s] the reader...This book will be useful in cultural diversity classes or for students who are having a hard time finding their place in school...Recommended."

Library Media Connection

"Fast-paced, easy-to-read drama."

The Horn Book Guide

"This is a tale about the effects of prejudice and the redeeming power of friendship...A very good selection for reluctant readers in high school who need high interest books."

Tri State Young Adult Book Review Committee

"There's a lot to think about in this small book. It might even be a book read to the end by kids who don't like to read."

Puget Sound Council for Reviewing Children's Media

"Highly recommended."

Tucson Unified School District - Cynthia Cruz

"[Yee's] characters and their life struggles ring true and are likely to connect well with teen readers. Written in a fast-paced, easy-to-read style, this book should be successful with reluctant readers."

TeensReadToo.com

"Yee's slim novel packs in a lot."

Booklist

"Yee's slim novel packs in a lot."

Booklist

Highly recommended.
— Cynthia Cruz

Tucson Unified School District

*no details*

Southwestern Ohio Young Adult Materials Review Group

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