Review of Flying Lessons & Other Stories, edited by Ellen Oh

Flying Lessons & Other Stories is a collection of diverse short stories edited by Ellen Oh. Oh is the co-founder of the nonprofit organization, We Need Diverse Books, whose goal is to bring diverse literature to all young people. In the anthology’s introduction, Oh (2017) states, “no matter what, our stories are unique, just like we are” (p. x). This collection features stories by well-known authors like Jacqueline Woodson, Kwame Alexander and more. The idea that everyone has an important story to tell unites these very different and unique stories.

Image

Image of Flying Lessons, edited by Ellen Oh. [Cover image of Flying lessons & other stories]. Retrieved from https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/530007/flying-lessons-and-other-stories-by-ellen-oh/9781101934623/

Evaluation

In Matt de la Peña’s short story “How to Transform an Everyday, Ordinary Hoop Court into a Place of Higher Learning and You at the Podium,” the reader follows the story of a nameless 8th grader who just wants to improve his basketball skills over the summer. The structure and point of view of the story are unique and fully engage the reader. From the very first lines, the reader realizes that the story is told in the second person: “It’s finally summer. Go ahead and take a deep breath. You’re free” (de la Peña, 2017, p. 1). Any kid can relate to the feeling of freedom after the hard work of the school year, and throughout the story, this second-person point of view allows the reader to feel as if he is actually a part of the narrative. The story is written as a “how-to” for a kid to get out and succeed (see the title of the story). The nameless narrator is very smart and does well at school, but realizes “for people like you, ball is more than just ball. It’s a way out… Nah, the game of basketball is your best chance” (de la Peña, 2017, p. 2). Later, we realize exactly what “people like you” means, when the narrator faces some mild racism when a cop knocks on the car window because “your skin is brown” (de la Peña, 2017, p. 7). Likewise, the African-American men at the basketball gym, where the narrator goes to practice, call him “Mexico” and “ask why you’re inside a gym, and not crouched in a field somewhere, picking strawberries” (de la Peña, p. 10). Throughout the story, one of the main themes is that our narrator doesn’t fit in; he isn’t allowed to play ball with the older guys because he is too small, too skinny, too Mexican. Nevertheless, he persists and keeps showing up at the gym, waiting for his chance. Because of the second-person point of view, the reader feels as if he is inside the story. The perspective, structure and point of view of this story set the tone for the rest of the works in the anthology.

In Tim Federle’s “Secret Samantha,” we get the point of view of a gender-nonconforming middle schooler who is trying to express herself. On the very first page of the story, the narrator expresses frustration at the teacher, who calls her Samantha: “Gah, I hate when people don’t call me Sam, and it throws me off” (Federle, 2017, p. 61). The kids at school made fun of Sam when she cut her hair short and asked to be called “Sam.” Sam has had limited success with her mother, though they agree on the nickname Sammy as a middle ground. The story deals with issues of not fitting in (“Nobody gets me”) (Federle, 2017, p. 80) and middle school crushes in a sweet, authentic way. With the first crush, Sam’s feelings are clear: “I have decided that the ongoing bah-booms and the twitches and the itchy feet (a new symptom) aren’t an allergy, but a sign” (Federle, 2017, p. 82). Sam decides to pursue the new girl, and it is sweet and exactly what you would expect from a middle school crush. Sam is funny and smart and see things with fresh eyes. Sam’s voice comes through loud and clear: “the mall is a zoo, if the zoo forgot to build cages” (Federle, 2017, p. 68). The perspective of this story is different because it is from a non-hetero point of view, but the feelings of not fitting in and having a first crush are completely relatable middle school experiences.

In “Seventy-Six Dollars and Forty-Nine Cents,” Kwame Alexander tells a story in verse. 7th grader Monk Oliver has a been tasked with writing a memoir, and an interesting one at that (Alexander, 2017, p. 159). However, because he thinks he is not interesting, he decides to embellish his memoir with a little pizazz: “Once upon a time I was uncool. Useless. An empty pool in the summer. A pencil with no lead…I was nothing. A nobody. That was before” (Alexander, 2017, p. 162). In Monk’s memoir, we discover that he has gained the ability to read other’s thoughts after banging his head in a minor collision. Throughout the story, Monk uses his newfound powers to cancel a school quiz and play mind games with a girl he has a crush on. Told in verse, this story is unique. And because we know up front that Monk is an unreliable narrator, so we read the story unsure of exactly what to believe. “I have taken some liberties and added a little drama here (and there) to keep it interesting.” (Alexander, 2017, p. 206). Monk’s point of view, whether or not it is truthful, is indeed intriguing. Like the other stories in the collection, the structure and point of view keep the reader engaged.

Response

The stories in Flying Lessons & Other Stories are well-written and unique, in part because of their various points of view. Most of the stories are told by people of color, though LGBTQ+ issues and physical disabilities are also explored. I think it is so important for kids to see diversity in their literature; as a grown-up, I search out diverse books for myself because they can teach me so much about different experiences. Reading is such an important part of how we learn and grow and understand others. These ten stories are perfect for middle-grade audiences because they are all age appropriate and deal with issues that kids actually face. The stories can serve as mirrors and windows. I tend to read a lot of literature by people of color, but I am less familiar with LGBTQ issues, and I find that reading stories like “Secret Samantha” really open up my eyes. I honestly had never thought much about transgender/gender-nonconforming issues until two years ago when I read This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel. These stories have taught me so much about the trials faced by transgender people; their stories are important to tell. “Secret Samantha” will certainly encourage understanding and empathy. I enjoyed the stories in this collection immensely, especially since they are all so different. The stories are incredibly well written, so they are fun to read, but they also opened my eyes to some issues. I am looking forward to reading other collections from We Need Diverse Books because I know they will introduce me to new topics and new ways of thinking. I highly recommend Flying Lessons & Other Stories to students in 4th-7th grades.

Conclusion

Flying Lessons & Other Stories is an incredibly diverse anthology, with stories that deal with issues that many middle-grade students face: friendship, the angst of a first crush, trying to fit in, and school assignments. What sets this collection apart is that the stories are written by an incredibly talented group of diverse authors. In these stories, we hear unique voices and new points of view. From the second-person in Matt de la Peña’s story to the voice of the gender-nonconforming student in “Secret Samantha” to Kwame Alexander’s unreliable narrator in “Seventy-Six Dollars,” each character we meet teaches us something new. Though the authors deal with many universal themes, they put a unique spin on the topics because of their different perspectives. The point of the We Need Diverse Books movement is to get encourage diversity in children’s literature and to let children see themselves and others in the literature. This collection is fantastic and I highly recommend it for elementary and middle school libraries. 5 stars.

Citations

Alexander, K. (2017). Seventy-six dollars and forty-nine cents. In E. Oh (Ed.), Flying lessons & other stories (pp. 159-206). New York, NY: Crown.

[Cover image of Flying lessons & other stories]. Retrieved from https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/530007/flying-lessons-and-other-stories-by-ellen-oh/9781101934623/

de la Pena, M. (2017). How to transform an everyday, ordinary hoop court into a place of higher learning and you at the podium. In E. Oh (Ed.), Flying lessons & other stories (pp. 1-22). New York, NY: Crown.

Federle, T. (2017). Secret Samantha. In E. Oh (Ed.), Flying lessons & other stories (pp. 61-86). New York, NY: Crown.

Frankel, L. (2017). This is how it always is. New York, NY: Flatiron Books.

Oh, E. (Ed.). (2017). Flying lessons & other stories. New York, NY: Crown.