Flying Lessons

by Kezi Matthews

In 1937 -- the summer that Amelia Earhart disappears -- 13-year-old LaMarr's flamboyant mother, Charmaine, flies off with a stunt pilot and doesn't return. Sent to live with an aunt and uncle, LaMarr awaits her mother's return while attempting to track down her long-lost father. A crusty old man, a former Teddy Roosevelt Rough Rider, befriends her. The old man's friendship and wisdom help LaMarr finally accept the probability that her mother is gone...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812626710
• ISBN13: 9780812626711
• Release Date: October 2002
• Publisher: Cricket Books
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 8.4"
• Age Range: 11 to 14 years
• Grade Range: Grades 6 to 9

Customer Reviews

A Book That Should Be Read

I've just finished reading "Flying Lessons" and I loved it. Ms. Matthews insight into the human heart allowed me to feel the the thirteen year old LaMarrs'pain and hope after the disappearance of her beautiful mother Charmaine while flying off to California with her stunt pilot boyfriend. This is paralled later in the book when LaMarrs' heroine,Amelia Earhart, also disappears while flying around the world. LaMarr goes to live with her mothers'brother,Vital Conroy and his wife Millie. A new world awaits her far from the carnival life she had known. One of my favorite characters is George Mcclendon Tyler, a crusty old veteran of The Spanish American War, who had fought with Teddy Roosevelts' Rough Riders.His life now spent in a wheelchair writing western stories,he seemed most unlikely to be the one to break through LaMarrs' protective shield. I could go on and on about the many wonderful characters that LaMarr encounters on her journey to the acceptance of reality,but much of your enjoyment of this book will be meeting them for the first time. LaMarr and her indomitable spirit is the essence of the story...

Timely and Memorable!

I'm a big fan of Kezi Matthews books! In light of 911 and all the kids whose parents never made it back home that day, I'd say this is a book well worth reading. It's set in the Thirties and deals with one girl's way of surviving a terrible loss, a loss she didn't actually see and finds hard to accept just on somebody else's say-so. We all have different ways of surviving the awful things in our lives and this wonderful book takes us along with LaMarr Conroy on her painful but sometimes humorous journey from denial to finally accepting the truth. It's a deep and eloquent book written in Ms. Matthew's usual spare and beautiful style!

A Wonderful Book!

If you like pie in the sky, this is not your book! If you like strong stories about real people dealing with real life, any of Ms. Matthews' terrific novels fills the bill! They're some of the best books written for young adults today! I have to say that Flying Lessons blew me away. It's a book about a young girl surviving her own messed-up life and it goes straight to your heart. In the end, you want to hug LaMarr Conroy for her strength and courage in making it through what will probably be the worst time of her life! Loved it!

Great read for girls

Thirteen-year-old LaMarr's unconventional, happy life with her Hollwood-hopeful mother, Charmaine, is torn apart when Charmaine and her stunt-pilot boyfriend disappear in his two-seater plane. Sent to live with unknown relatives in the South, LaMarr clings to her memories and dreams of flying herself someday. The time is 1927, but Lamarr's plight, her opening up to unlikely friendships, and her determination are just as relevant today. A great story for girls, that shows, without preaching, the power of an individual to "fly" beyond their limits and circumstances.

All that's right in children's lit today

I felt absolutely transported in time throughout this book, and really enjoyed walking along for a few hours inside the skin of LaMarr. The thing I love best about it is that Ms. Matthews never pretends that there is a simple, all encompassing, perfect ending to the messiness of life. I think kids need that kind of honesty, and I appreciate it being wrapped in such a wonderful package. But, that's the big picture, and I love the small details of this book too, like I got hungry every time Japonica's fabulous cooking was mentioned! This is a book to be savored, and shared!