A review by markma
Flying Lessons & Other Stories by Ellen Oh

5.0

Flying Lessons and Other Stories is a short story anthology edited by Ellen Oh who is part of the We Need Diverse Books Campaign and with stories from Sherman Alexie, Jacqueline Woodson, Kwame Alexander, Walter Dean Myers, Meg Medina, Tim Tingle, Kelly J. Baptist , Soman Chainani, Matt de la Pena, Tim Federle, and Grace Lin. These are great authors who each contributed a story to make a total of 12 short stories. My sister read this book first and loved it, I was a bit skeptical of a short story anthology because I don’t usually read short stories, but I loved this one. Each story drew you in as a reader and made you become emotionally invested in the characters within a few pages. And each story told a perspective from different types of Americans and what it is like to be in their shoes. I think my two favorite stories was Secret Samantha and Soli Inc. I don’t know why, but Secret Samantha just stuck with me and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that one since. It is about a girl named Samatha, who really wants to be called Sam, and how she tries to make friends. The Soli Inc. illustrated a side of racism that isn’t as talked about as others are. It is about a girl who goes to work with her Dad, but she sees a new side of him that she hasn’t seen before. I also loved the way that all the stories are written, each author wrote it in their own style. I have read books by some of the authors there, like Sherman Alexie and Walter Dean Myers, but it also inspired me to seek out the other authors who I haven’t read yet. This is a really great read, and you can read them all at once or one at the time. They are just amazing however you read these stories. I would recommend these stories to everyone and they are great for all ages.