Blackbird Fly [9780062238610]

Overview

Future rock star or friendless misfit? That’s no choice at all. In this acclaimed novel by Newbery Medalist Erin Entrada Kelly, twelve-year-old Apple grapples with being different; with friends and backstabbers; and with following her dreams.

Publishers Weekly called Blackbird Fly “a true triumph,” and the Los Angeles Times Book Review said, “Apple soars like the eponymous blackbird of her favorite Beatles song.”

Apple has always felt a little different from her classmates. She and her mother moved to Louisiana from the Philippines when she was little, and her mother still cooks Filipino foods and chastises Apple for becoming “too American.” When Apple’s friends turn on her and everything about her life starts to seem weird and embarrassing, Apple turns to music. If she can just save enough to buy a guitar and learn to play, maybe she can change herself. It might be the music that saves her . . . or it might be her two new friends, who show her how special she really is.

Erin Entrada Kelly deftly brings Apple’s conflicted emotions to the page in her debut novel about family, friendship, popularity, and going your own way. “A must-read for those kids cringing at their own identities.”—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.

What happens when the music you love becomes your only way out?

• Filipino American Protagonist: Twelve-year-old Apple loves The Beatles and her mom’s Filipino cooking, but feels caught between two worlds in her small Louisiana town.
• Navigating Middle School Bullying: When a cruel list circulates at school and her once-best friends turn on her, Apple has to find the courage to face the taunts alone.
• A Love Letter to The Beatles: Inspired by her hero, George Harrison, Apple believes that learning to play the guitar is the one thing that can save her and help her find her place.
• Finding True Friendship: A heartfelt look at the pain of losing friends and the joy of finding new ones who see you for who you really are.