Published: 2021
Author: Ann Braden
Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, LGBT, Young Adult, Family, Contemporary, Friendship, School
Audience (Grade Levels): Grades 4-8
Number of Stars: 5-Stars
Goodreads Link: Flight of the Puffin
Triggers: Bullying, Racism, Homelessness, Grief, Homophobia / Transphobia
Review By: Deb McHugh
Publisher’s Summary
One small act of kindness ripples out to connect four kids in this stirring novel by the author of the beloved The Benefits of Being an Octopus. Libby comes from a long line of bullies. She wants to be different, but sometimes that doesn’t work out. Now she’s suspended again. On the opposite side of the country lives Vincent, a kid who loves the mathematician Katherine Johnson and being a non-conformist, who’s trying hard not to get stuffed into lockers at his new school. But that’s not working out too well either.
Nearby is T, who couldn’t take living at home anymore and is determined to survive on a rainy sidewalk. And then there’s Jack, a big-hearted kid so engaged in the fight to keep his small rural school open that he’s lost focus on the ones who need him most. Four kids. Four different lives. And then… one card with a message of hope takes flight and starts a chain reaction, helping each kid summon the thing they need, whether it’s bravery, empathy, or understanding. But best of all, it makes each one realize they matter — and that they’re not flying solo anymore.
Review
I adored this book and its message of kindness without the expectation of receiving anything in return. Each of the characters had their own stories to tell and the author developed each of them using a different voice and style. Libby is misunderstood, artistic, and reminded me of so many different people and how society often judges people based on their families and appearances and not on who they are as individuals on the inside. You first meet Libby painting a sunrise on a wall of the school which quickly leads to her sitting in the principal’s office and hearing him saying, “Are you going to be just like your brother? And your dad?” (p. 2). Libby tries to do the opposite of her family but always seems to end up in trouble. After being grounded at home, Libby finds inspiration in a stolen rock and art supplies, borrowed from school, to draw inspirational cards. She leaves the cards all over town for others to find and even mails one to a boy in Seattle who likes puffins.
Jack is helpful, strong, and resourceful. He is mourning the loss of his brother and now has to worry about losing his school after someone from the state education department visits and decides it doesn’t meet the state standards. After being misunderstood at a school board meeting, Jack begins to make sense of things about his brother that a year ago he was too young to understand. He receives a message from Vincent that helps him see what he has to do to make things right in his little part of the world.
Vincent is smart, lonely, and brave. He loves triangles and looks for them in everything. He is bullied at school and often ends up shoved inside a locker. Vincent’s mom buys him clothes that she hopes will help him fit in better and not be bullied as much. So when Vincent finds a shirt with a puffin on in, he decides to wear it because he loves triangles and puffins have lots of triangles. The people who surround him don’t seem to understand or accept who he is and he feels all alone until he receives a postcard in the mail that says, “Fly free! We’re right behind you. Because YOU are amazing” (p. 134). This helps him realize what he needs to do.
T is homeless and scared. Their part in the story is written in verse so you only receive a little bit of information so their story is the least well developed. You learn that they don’t consider themselves to be a boy or a girl and that they ran away from home so they could be themselves. Vincent meets T and helps them in different ways but mostly just by seeing T and listening. T also helps Vincent with his bullying problem at school.
The book carries themes of bullying, hope, being true to yourself, kindness matters, and compassion. Flight of the Puffin takes place in various cities across the United States and what they are isn’t really important to the story–it is more important to understand that you can have an impact on other people’s lives no matter where they are, if you only try.
We need more stories in our world like this one. To be honest, we need more people in this world like these children.
Classroom & Curricular Connections
- ELA / Literary Voice & Structure: Analyze how the author utilizes four distinct character voices and formatting choices—most notably writing T’s perspective in free verse—to convey different emotional states, backgrounds, and pacing.
- Social-Emotional Learning (SEL): Highly relevant for discussions on navigating grief, breaking toxic family cycles of bullying, building self-acceptance, and showing compassion to classmates who do not conform to traditional social norms.
- Social Studies / Community Dynamics: Great for studying the role of community activism (such as saving a small rural school) and understanding the systemic challenges of youth homelessness and lack of societal support.
- Library: Launch a “Pass-It-On Postcard Campaign” in the library or classroom. Inspired by Libby’s mission to draw and scatter encouraging messages, students can create artwork or write positive, affirming messages on postcards. These cards can be placed in library books, left on school desks, or mailed anonymously to residents of local shelters to demonstrate how simple acts of kindness can ripple through a community.
Diversity & Representation
Flight of the Puffin provides rich representation by addressing the lived experiences of a nonbinary run-away youth (T), a neurodivergent-coded or non-conforming kid (Vincent), and individuals dealing with extreme poverty, grief, and housing instability. These perspectives are handled with profound dignity and show how critical visible support and affirmation are for marginalized youth.
Readalikes
- You Go First by Erin Entrada Kelly
- Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff
- Paper Things by Jennifer Jacobson
- Starfish by Lisa Fipps
- Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling
- Forget Me Not by Ellie Terry
