FLY by Alison Hughes

Fourteen-year-old Felix Landon Yarrow, known as FLY "to anyone and everyone in a ten-mile radius" is on a quest of Don Quixote proportions. FLY lives with his mother who works as a caretaker: his father passed away when he was only three years old.

FLY has cerebral palsy and is wheel-chair bound,  his gangly body "arms and legs, hands and fingers flex-locked in cramped, crumpled contortions." He's hard to understand if you don't listen carefully because of his clenched teeth and wayward tongue. He carries around a copy of Don Quixote to remind people that there is more to him than meets the eye.

Because he's confined to a wheelchair, FLY has an aide named Levi, an eccentric young man who wears purple pants and tells FLY everything. Levi is always trying to help him make new friends but FLY isn't very interested. He feels that he goes mostly unnoticed by his fellow students, the exception being Daria. She noticed FLY when his book fell and she picked it up. Unlike others who don't see him, Daria looked into his eyes and smiled. That's when FLY developed a huge crush on her and began watching her.

But in watching Daria, FLY has noticed a group of boys who seem to be rude and are focused on her. FLY notices one boy, Carter, a boy "who walks like he owns the world" and who seems to be center of attention and now seems to be focused on Daria. So for three months FLY watches Carter, invisible to him. FLY has heard Carter boast about cheating on exams and stealing. FLY has a plan to bring down Carter. But plans don't always go as expected and FLY's plan most certainly does not!

Discussion

FLY is a short novel, done in verse, that explores the theme of living with a disability and making assumptions about people without really knowing them. Felix, confined to a wheel chair as a result of cerebral palsy, struggles because people often don't see past his disability. He refers to himself as "Nobody" because he feels he is invisible, a nobody who's not noticed. Sitting in his wheelchair in the hallway, is like being a fixture, a piece of furniture. His disability elicits pity and low expectations. 

 

People assume because his body doesn't work, his mind mustn't either. To counter this he carries a copy of the novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes which he refers to as "DQ".
"I take old
DQ everywhere,
like a good luck charm -
physical proof
to ignorant people
that there's a
mind
in this
body of mine."

"Can you blame me?
So many people
make false
connections
projections,
and assume that
because my
body malfunctions,

my mind must,

too."

Felix doesn't like the word "awesome" because it seems to be used in a way that is demeaning.
"Awesome.
It's the kind of praise
surprised people give me
for the smallest 
accomplishment

when they see

my body doesn't work
like theirs does,

and assume
my brain doesn't 
work at all."

He also knows he is not someone to be pitied.
"I am not a poor boy

I'm a smart one,

with talents

only a few will ever discover."

Felix knows that he goes unnoticed and he feels invisible, like a FLY on the wall. He knows people look past him in his wheelchair.

As with the character Don Quixote, Felix sees himself as a chivalrous knight out to save his classmate, Daria from bad boy Carter. In his misguided quest, Felix begins stalking Carter (and Daria) at school. Felix doesn't tell anyone what he suspects about Carter because he sees this quest as giving him purpose. This escalates to sending email messages online to Carter and warning messages to Daria. Sending the messages anonymously, online gives Felix a new sense of power which he enjoys. Felix considers that Daria is innocent and unaware of the type of person Carter is. He considers protecting her from Carter is a matter of fairness and justice. Believing he has the evidence Carter is dealing in drugs, Felix sets out to confront him at school, but that meeting doesn't go down as planned, with Levi getting injured. And his actions don't have the desired effect for Daria either. 

Although things don't work out as planned, the ensuing brawl makes Felix feel alive and that people like Constable Mah are finally listening to him. Even when Daria angrily confronts him, Felix still feels some exhilaration because she is talking and looking at him, even though she's not grateful. Daria tells Felix, 
"A person is more than
how they look.
Talk to them.
Have a
conversation."

This makes Felix realize he has been hypocritical, doing to Daria exactly what he doesn't want people to do to him:
"How many times
have I thought 

the same thing?
Wished the same thing?

That people would
talk to me,

understand me,

not glance and

judge

without a word..."

Felix begins to understand that when he finally reaches out to talk with Daria, he will learn what she is really like, not the damsel in distress as he imagined her to be. He realizes there are many things he doesn't know and now he wants to be open to new ideas and experiences. By the end of the novel Felix is questioning the possibility of giving Carter a second chance, of trying to find out the source of his bus driver Vic's crabbiness and maybe even trying to learn to ride a horse!

FLY is another addition to the juvenile fiction canon that includes Wonder and many other books, exploring life with a disability, and how people with a physical disability are challenged by other people's perceptions. Done as a novel in verse, Hughes succinctly portrays Felix's frame of mind, his experiences, how others relate to him and the events that occur because of his plan. Well-written, engaging, with lots of themes to explore.

Book Details:

FLY by Alison Hughes
Toronto: Kids Can Press    2022
197 pp.

Out Of My Heart by Sharon M. Draper

Eleven-year-old Melody Brooks is on summer vacation which means she and her four-year-old sister Penny spend most of their days at their neighbour, Mrs. V's, short for Violet Valencia.  At the end of school, all everyone is talking about is going to summer camps: rock climbing camp, and even mermaid camp. Melody wondered if there were even camps for kids like her so with the help of the local librarian, Mr. Francisco, she's been able to find a nearby camp that might just work. 

When Melody's mother, who is a nurse, arrives home, Melody using her Medi-Talker which she calls Elvira, tells her mother that she wants to go to summer camp. The Medi-Talker allows Melody to communicate with her family and those around her. When she shows her mom the information on Green Glades Therapeutic Recreational Camp, her mom and Mrs. V just seem like they might be on board. 

The camp offers four girls per cabin with their own individual counselor, boating, hiking, swimming and nightly campfires along with ziplining and even horseback riding! Although it's late June and there are only a few spots left, Melody's mother downloads all the paperwork for the camp and they send off the application. 

However the next day, they receive a reply that all the spots are taken and that Melody has been placed on a waiting list. This is devastating to Melody whose heart was set on attending the camp. But  then a few days later, with a sudden cancellation, Melody finds herself headed to Camp Green Glades facing a whole new set of experiences she never, ever imagined.

 

There are numerous shopping trips to buy new shorts, Nikes and jeans. Finally, Sunday morning arrives, and Melody along with her four-year-old sister Penny, and her parents make the two hour drive to the camp. On the way Melody begins experiencing panic and doubts about attending camp. When they arrive, Melody and her family are greeted by Cassie, the camp's director and given a tour by Melody's camp counselor, Trinity.  Melody's still not certain she wants to stay but as the day goes on, that uncertainty changes into a determination to meet this new challenge head-on!

Discussion

Out Of My Heart is the sequel to Draper's popular novel, Out Of My Mind, about a young girl with cerebral palsy. In this story Melody is beginning to grow up and wants to have the same life experiences as her peers. One of those experiences is going to summer camp.

Melody overcomes her fears and not only participates fully in all the activities in the camp, but she also has her first crush, and even manages to survive a ride on a runaway horse! Draper details all of these experiences in a day by day account that is both interesting, but at times tedious too. But in reading through all that Melody experiences at camp, we see a young girl on the verge of her teen years, who is both intelligent and courageous. 

Green Glades offers Melody the chance to make real friends for the first time in her life and for people to see the real Melody, to see past her disability and to what she can do. One night Melody reflects on the atmosphere of the camp. "And that made me think about how here at camp, no one was doing what so many people I've met seem to do. Lots of folks still have a tendency to just look at me from the outside. They notice the wheelchair and the head wobbling and the fact that my hands just can't hold still. I drool sometimes -- which, yes, is totally embarrassing. Folks don't often look deep enough to see the kid who knows the names of every single bone in the human body. I'm almost twelve, but I read on a twelfth-grade level." 

When Melody makes a close friend in Noah Abercrombie, she tells him "I'd give anything for people to see me first, not my chair, and to do more stuff on my own, like hanging out with my best friend...if I had one."  She discovers that she does have a best friend in Noah who holds her hand. To that end the camp gives Melody and the other campers the chance to "fit in". Whether it was sitting around the campfire or playing in the park Melody finds herself and the other campers as "insiders instead of the outsiders for a change."

Camp widens Melody's perspective, showing her the possibilities to be independent. She and the other girls in her group, Jocelyn, Athena and Karyn assert a bit of that independence when they ask their counselors to be able to spend time alone together. And when she returns home, she's determined to see if she can make better playgrounds in her town for kids like her.

Overall, Out Of My Heart is a fitting conclusion to Melody's story from Out Of My Mind. Some of the musical references are dated and young readers may not relate to them. Tweens today are into Instagram and Twitch and prefer rap and would probably relate more to superheroes. It's likely kids like Melody, Noah and Jocelyn would have similar interests. It's also difficult to believe that someone like Melody would never have been in a pool, especially given that her mother is a nurse. Physical therapy in a pool would probably be something a child with cerebral palsy would definitely have experienced, particularly by the age of eleven.

Despite these obvious inconsistencies, Draper has crafted a lovable heroine whose determination to become the master of her own life will resonate with young tweens. Out of My Heart encourages everyone to really see the person behind whatever physical, mental or emotional challenge they may have.

Book Details:

Out Of My Heart by Sharon M. Draper
Toronto: A Caitlyn Dlouhy Book     2021
342 pp.