Flight by Sandy Whiting

 

FLIGHT 

by Sandy Whiting

Monarch Educational Services LLC

YA Contemporary

Novel in Verse

334 pages

Fifteen-year-old Cassie's World is turned upside-down with the death of her father. Unable to cope, Cassie's mom finds solace in pills. Her brother, Jeremy, becomes lost in Virtual Reality, and her sister, Courtney, spends all her time with her friends, leaving Cassie seemingly unattended and unloved.

At the same time, Cassie's class begins an in-depth unit on butterflies, Cassie's mom unexpectedly takes a trip, leaving her family in the hands of their widowed neighbor. Cassie can either continue to see the worst in her unfortunate surroundings or embrace her new-found knowledge that butterflies aren't the only creatures capable of metamorphosis.

13+, parental substance abuse, rehabilitation, death of a parent.

 

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MY TIDBITS

With beauty and heart, this is an heart-touching exploration into discovering a way to heal from grief.

Cassie's wholesome world ended with the illness and death of her father. Her siblings have pulled into their own bubbles as they deal with the loss, and her mother has turned to substance abuse. Cassie's been doing her best to continue and has found moments in life, which offer a bit of freedom. When one of her classes pulls into a theme surrounding butterflies, Cassie's thoughts begin to take a turn. Then, her mother heads off, Cassie and her siblings in the care of a neighbor. And that is when her healing truly begins.

This is written in beautiful verse form and steers through tough themes with care, emotion, and elegance. The writing is quite simple in the word choice, side-stepping flowery language that could distract from the main flow. Instead, Cassie's thoughts come across open and pure as she exposes her worries, hopes, and pain. It's easy to follow as she steers through daily life, school, friends, family, and more. The chapters are kept very short, often only consisting of a page or two as the story settles in. It creates a quicker read and allows for pauses as emotions settle in.

There's a lovely symbolism play between the butterfly and Cassie's situation. This is almost impossible to miss, and still slides in wonderfully with symbolism. It fits the entire, poetic and emotional flow very well. Plus, the little dabs of information were interesting, too.

This is a read with emotion and depth, which hits honestly, easily, and makes a read to enjoy and think about.