Reviews

Flying Lessons & Other Stories by

bickie's review against another edition

4.0

Great compilation of short stories from a diverse group of authors. Many address important issues such as racism from the perspective of children beginning to understand complexities of adult behavior. Others contain references to cultural heritage stories. Some address early attractions to others and learning about how one wants to be in the world. Best for ages 10-15.

andreareyes's review against another edition

5.0

I like books like this. 

The initiative called We Need Diverse Books unites authors of color, ability, backgrounds and languages and creates stories aimed towards adolescents (like middle school). It is refreshing to hear these stories. I loved the lesson at the end. I love that the stories are evenly spaced. I love that I see myself and those I love represented in the stories. I love the narrators!! All the stories are good, too, each special in their own way 

megpancoast's review against another edition

funny reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

allysonbogie's review against another edition

5.0

I was so excited to read this collection of short stories because it includes work from some of my favorite YA authors...and it didn't disappoint! We Need Diverse Books is an incredibly important movement and I love that they put out this collection. I recommend it highly and plan to purchase it for my middle school library.

emily_m_green's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 

Flying Lessons & Other Stories is an anthology of short stories edited by Ellen Oh as part of We Need Diverse Books. The stories have characters and authors from a range of backgrounds and about a range of topics but all have adolescent main characters. 

The opening story, for instance, by Matt de la Peña, is about a boy who is Mexican American and who wants to spend his summer working on his basketball game. He spends every day at a gym where the best players, adult players, play. The story is told in second person and has an honest tone that students appreciate. It is also used in Units of Study for Reading: Investigating Character as a tool to think about characterization, which is where I discovered the book.

In Meg Medina’s story, “Sol Painting, Inc,” a girl plans to make her father’s one man, one truck painting enterprise into a multimillion dollar chain. The last job of the summer turns out to be painting the exclusive private school where she will start in the fall. This was not her decision, and she learns some big lessons working under her father and alongside her brother. . 

It is not easy to find good short stories for young readers. A few years back when I was teaching a creative writing class to elementary students, I found very few options. The works in Flying Lessons are a bit above most elementary school students and perhaps still a challenge for many middle school students. Not out of their reach, but they do need scaffolding. The stories are also good, well-written, and don/t talk down to their young target audience. In addition, they offer a diversity of characters that was also quite difficult to find a few years ago. 

Would I teach this book? Emphatically, yes. There are no clunkers in this anthology and there is so much for students to think about. We did some writing that involved modeling sentence structure after the sentences in stories and writing scenes from a different character’s perspective. I am so glad to have found this book. 

 

jessethereader's review against another edition

I feel like anthologies are so hard to rate, because there are stories you'll love and stories that you'll feel iffy about and that was the case for me and this book. It was nice to be able to read from authors I've never read before and see what their writing styles were like. I also love that this book is full of diverse stories, which is something that we still need more of.

kimball_hansen's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars. This was a fun little book. Lots of little stories. Some of them I wish were much longer because just when I'd be getting into it the book ends and it leaves me hungry for me. But some of the stories were boring AF. Probably because I was grouchy from being hung up on the previous book and in a Foul Mood. FYI these stories are very modern or "relevant" like today's teenagers like to say.

tessakris's review against another edition

5.0

I liked it- some stories I liked more than others but I thought it was a lot of fun to go from one story to another so quickly

katiegrrrl's review against another edition

5.0

I really enjoyed all these short stories! Some of my favorite authors

2017 Better World - collection of short stories

baileykfinau1's review against another edition

5.0

Fabulous book for Middle School English teachers to use as a mentor text or for anyone who directly works with diverse populations of students.