Landalf, Helen. Flyaway.

Landalf, Helen.         Flyaway.         Harcourt Brace/Houghton Mifflin(Macmillan),  2011.  167p

$16.99.            ISBN 978-0-547-51973-9       secondary        Realistic Fiction          VG     

Stevie learns about relationships and self-worth in this novel about a mother-daughter relationship that is threatened by Mom’s drug abuse.  With collection agencies calling daily and a frequently absent mother (June) who goes out dancing and does crystal meth nightly, fifteen-year-old Stevie is forced to make choices that children should not have to make.  The biggest burden on Stevie?  It is up to her to decide whether to insist that June stay in rehab or encourage her to return home.  Since Stevie craves a “normal” relationship with her mother, she accepts June's return from rehab, despite the many challenges she knows they will face.  Mother and daughter share a strong bond that is fueled by their need for each other, and that bond is shaken when June begins to use again.  This book is all about relationships.  The other important one is between Stevie and Aunt Mindy, which is contentious, especially when Mindy continues to share her negative views about June on a daily basis.  Loyal to her mother, Stevie is torn between her growing appreciation of the stability and encouragement that Mindy offers and the love that she has for her mother.  Another relationship is the one between Stevie and Alan, a dropout who now works rehabilitating wild birds.  It is with Alan that Stevie learns how to care for wild birds, and she learns to care for Alan as well.  Although she learns about love from both Mindy and Alan, she learns self-esteem from her tutor, a man who finds common ground with Stevie in her drawings and builds a relationship with her based on mutual respect.  The strengths of the novel are a believable story and a wonderful writing style.  The use of the present tense brings the action alive, and the character development is authentic.  One suggestion to this beginning author might be to make the connection between the birds and June a bit less obvious.  Whenever Stevie finds a damaged bird, the bird seems to symbolize Stevie’s mother.  Most readers can make the connection themselves without this much prompting.   Otherwise, this first novel by Helen Landalf is strong in its enduring theme about who is the real mother to a child, and young readers are going to enjoy Stevie’s journey. 

Martha Squaresky