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When
I read stories with my students I am constantly
struck by how the words on the page can make us
feel such a range of emotions. When we cry or
laugh out loud at something we just read, I
remind my students that there was an author who
wrote those words in just such a way that we
were moved by them. I love the thought that
words on paper can be so powerful. When I talk
to my students about becoming an author myself,
they always ask, “Are you going to be rich now?”
At this I laugh and honestly tell them that I
just want to know that someone bought my book,
and when they read it, they laughed and they
cried because of the words I wrote.
In Flight I portray a family dealing with
or rather not dealing with the tremendous
burden of hidden illiteracy. Evan is a high
school freshman who cannot read. The title of
the novel comes from the title Evan gives to his
award-winning sketch of three owls on their
nightly hunt. In his sketch, he captures their
beauty, grace and power, and in doing so, he
begins to realize his own strength. He does not
have to be a victim of illiteracy, and in order
to succeed in life, he will have to take risks
and ask for help when he needs it.
I
want Flight to be a message to all
readers, that they too can take flight from
whatever it is that’s holding them back in their
lives. Take flight, readers! And maybe along the
way, you’ll laugh a little, cry a little, and
catch a fleeting glimpse of a rainbow or the
silent flight of owls. |
