The Boy Who Could Fly

Gr 4—7—If your life were miserable and confined, would you change places with a boy who could soar above the clouds on beautiful feathered wings, even if it means becoming invisible to all but the "Sensitive" and those with evil intent? Would you take freedom at that price? This is the fate of the loblolly boy, as Michael unwittingly discovers when he, desperate to escape his prisonlike orphanage, exchanges bodies with a mysterious winged creature and finds he has sacrificed his identity to become the loblolly boy himself. After the novelty of his freedom has worn off, and the reality of his isolation has set in, loblolly Michael seeks a way to regain a human existence. What begins as a sort of existential crisis—Are we human if we lose the capacity to connect with other people?—turns into a concrete adventure story. With the help of a magic telescope, he locates twin girls about his age who are "Sensitives," and therefore able to see him. With the sisters as allies, Michael must evade the sinister "Collector," who covets the loblolly boy for his butterfly museum. And, most importantly, he must find a way to become himself again. With its quick pace and intriguing themes, this unusual story will keep readers interested right up to the satisfying conclusion.—Emma Burkhart, Springside School, Philadelphia, PA

Michael lives at an orphanage, miserable, until the "loblolly boy," gifted with powers of flight and invisibility, offers to trade places. The new powers are all they're cracked up to be, but Michael eventually yearns for human contact. Norcliffe's storytelling is accomplished and leisurely; the novel’s style and its extraordinary treatment of ordinary themes elevate this fable-cum-magic-realism tale.