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The Serendipity of Flightless Things
by
This middle grade, magical-realism novel from the author of The Flourishing of Floralie Laurel is about an Irish girl who is sent to a mysterious town in Virginia to live with her long-lost mother, and is Alice Hoffman's Nightbird meets Claire Legrand's The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls!
Amidst the 1971 Troubles between the Irish Republican Army and Northern Ireland, tw ...more
Amidst the 1971 Troubles between the Irish Republican Army and Northern Ireland, tw ...more
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ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review (Thank you!)
A retelling of the Irish legend "The Children of Lir", The Serendipity of Flightless Things is about Finn, a 12-year-old girl living in Ireland with her father and grandmother. After some tragic circumstances, she is sent to live in America with a mother she never met, in a very weird, eerie place where things seem to be somewhat otherworldly and her mother is not quite as expected.
I really liked the lyrica ...more
A retelling of the Irish legend "The Children of Lir", The Serendipity of Flightless Things is about Finn, a 12-year-old girl living in Ireland with her father and grandmother. After some tragic circumstances, she is sent to live in America with a mother she never met, in a very weird, eerie place where things seem to be somewhat otherworldly and her mother is not quite as expected.
I really liked the lyrica ...more
I loved 12 year old Fin, a storyteller and dreamer fascinated with an island across the sea, Inis Eala, and the swans who live there. Fin lives with her grandmother Nuala. Her mother died long ago, or so she has been told, and her father is away fighting in the Northern Ireland conflict. On her 12th birthday, she begs her grandmother to take her to Inis Eala, but Nuala refuses, warning her that it is a dangerous place. Fin disobeys her grandmother and tries to swim across, nearly drowning in the
...more
i. swear. to. god. i only have so many limbs.
for those of you who are new here and are probably asking yourselves what the hell i'm talking about (actually, those of you who are already in on this joke are probably asking the same thing, but anyway...) when a book is really really quick-paced and confusing, i tend to drop my cane and break, sprain, or fracture my dear limbs. this is quite the case here.
i really liked the plot, and i admit i "couldn't put it down." which is incidentally is our p ...more
for those of you who are new here and are probably asking yourselves what the hell i'm talking about (actually, those of you who are already in on this joke are probably asking the same thing, but anyway...) when a book is really really quick-paced and confusing, i tend to drop my cane and break, sprain, or fracture my dear limbs. this is quite the case here.
i really liked the plot, and i admit i "couldn't put it down." which is incidentally is our p ...more
Sep 29, 2020
Miz Lizzie
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
childrensbooks,
faeries,
families,
fantasy,
friendship,
girl-power,
grandparents,
history,
ireland,
magic
In Ireland in the 1970s, while her Da serves in the Irish Republican Army, Finn is being raised on the stories of her grandmother. Her favorite tale is an ancient myth, The Children of Lir, which fuels her obsession with swans and faery folk even though she doesn't exactly believe in any of it. A series of tragedies, however, results in Finn being sent to Virginia to a mother she didn't realize she had. She is confronted right and left by the reality of magic and the myth of the Children of Lir
...more
The cover of this book is very pretty. That’s about the only good thing I have to say about it. It kind of reminded me of a badly plotted scooby doom episode in the, “let’s run here, now let’s go check this, did this work, we have to run around and see.”
The characters are also very unbelievable. Like a girl that said she has a difficult time betraying her mother does just that two sentences later.....I just didn’t appreciate this book at all. I took so long to read it because I couldn’t even fi ...more
The characters are also very unbelievable. Like a girl that said she has a difficult time betraying her mother does just that two sentences later.....I just didn’t appreciate this book at all. I took so long to read it because I couldn’t even fi ...more
Really beautiful story
A bit too scattered to earn five stars, but very enjoyable. A really nice retelling of a fairy tale. This would be a great bedtime reading to older kids. Too much blood and murder for young ones. The ending feels rushed, like I didn’t have enough time to follow the path of the mystery before it was over. And I still don’t know who Sojourn is. But I enjoy good writing and there is a lot of poetry in this book. Enjoy.
A bit too scattered to earn five stars, but very enjoyable. A really nice retelling of a fairy tale. This would be a great bedtime reading to older kids. Too much blood and murder for young ones. The ending feels rushed, like I didn’t have enough time to follow the path of the mystery before it was over. And I still don’t know who Sojourn is. But I enjoy good writing and there is a lot of poetry in this book. Enjoy.
The first half of this book is lyrical and pure magic. The characters are wonderfully portrayed and I can’t think of a single issue. The second half felt rushed and a little scattered and some of the new characters are inconsistent and can grate a bit. . . but overall I would recommend it and I’ll probably read it again someday in the not too distant future.
I know Irish myth and tale, and this book was still a hard read for me. Filled with mishap, misfortune, and death. Even the fulfillment of the quest at the end is awkward and reads as more duty than a joy.
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I write books for children, especially middle grade readers. I am the author of two novels with Yellow Jacket Press, THE FLOURISHING OF FLORALIE LAUREL and THE SERENDIPITY OF FLIGHTLESS THINGS. When not writing, I enjoy painting, dancing, and hanging out with my animals. I live with my persnickety cat and flop-eared dog. I am currently pursuing a Masters of Fine Arts in Writing for Children & Youn
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