Middle school is such a weird time. As an educator, I witness firsthand every year how friendships change or are dropped, how kiddos start exploring to find their own niches and how some kiddos suddenly become "cool". In Flight of the Puffin, Braden explores the stories of four young people who each have their own battles to fight.
I read a quote in a blog called A Learning A Day which went something like "we spend life trying to justify the story we have in our head". In other words, perception is reality, thus, a person who other people may perceive as a bully may not view themselves as such. Libby, lives in a household with some people who display bullying tendencies and sometimes but she prefers to doodle and engage in creative pursuits. Vincent, a kid who knows a lot of random facts is forced to confront bullies who have started making his life difficult. T has decided to leave home as life there had become difficult. Last but not least is Jack, perhaps the bravest kid I have seen in a novel in some time.
Even in the midst of their own struggles, they each found a way to reach out to other young people struggling with their own battles; this small gesture was what touched me the most. Often, as adults we spend a lot of time trying to teach kids to be kind but we live in a world where sometimes kindness isn't always cool. Some read alikes to this novel are Auggie and Me by R.J. Palacio, Paper Things by Jennifer Jacobson and Don't Judge Me by Lisa Schroeder
