I am absolutely convinced that Patricia MacLachlan has a beautiful box somewhere in her house filled with lovely, rustling tissue paper and buried down in the folds are brilliantly sparkling jewels. She fetches one of the jewels out every now and then when she gets the feeling we need one and sends it out to us in the form of a gentle, deeply perceptive book that lights life up with a glow.
Sarah, Plain and Tall, meet Lucy, her parents, Boots and Maggie, her younger sister, Gracie, and her little brother Teddy. They have piled into their old tan and green Volkswagen bus and they are headed to North Dakota to spend time with their Aunt Francis, better known as Frankie.
We see them all through the eyes of Lucy who sits in the backseat watching each of her family members with keenly perceptive eyes and a sensitive heart. Lucy knows her parents' dreams. Lucy knows her little brother's secret. Lucy discovers that her little sister is brilliant.
This is a family that isn't worried about what they're wearing. There is no dvd player in the backseat for the kids to watch. Instead they are listening to opera and country western and looking out the window. They are on their way to help out a relative, Aunt Frankie.
Lucy thinks she can't sing a note and she hides her hopes. So you will thrill as you watch as in a few short hours, Lucy goes in search of her own special secret. Will Lucy see herself as keenly as she sees the others? Will she find her wings to fly away to her best self?
This is a family with room for everyone. This is a family with room to grow. This is a family that knows what matters.
As I said, another gem filled with people you want to know, a family you'd like to live next door to, and an ever present acceptance and love. Will you see yourself as clearly?
Ages 7-10 978-1442450089 108 pages
Recommended by: Barb, abookandahug.com
https://books.simonandschuster.com/Fly-Away/Patricia-MacLachlan/9781442460089
