The Boy Who Could Fly (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Boy Who Could Fly Kate Quealy-Gainer Norcliffe, James. The Boy Who Could Fly. Egmont, 2010. [320p.] Library ed. ISBN 978-1-60684-097-9 $18.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-60684-084-9 $15.99 Reviewed from galleys M Gr. 5-8. The Great House is a place for abandoned kids—not just orphans, but rejects, misfits, and those whose parents simply forgot about them. Michael is one such child, leading a rather miserable existence until he meets a strange creature who refers to himself only as "the loblolly boy" and who offers Michael a chance at freedom. The two boys trade places (an "Exchange," in the book's parlance) and Michael is transformed into a feathered, green-clad being who can fly vast distances and who is invisible to all other humans. Initially thrilled with his newfound independence, the new loblolly boy soon discovers, however, that such an existence is as good as being dead and that his inability to communicate, especially after he locates remaining members of his family, is simply too high a price to pay for a freewheeling lifestyle. The clear allusions to Peter Pan and Neverland fail, unfortunately, to bring any sense of magic or wonder to what is, at its heart, a stern lecture on the dangers of running away and the importance of appreciating what you've got. Both the plot and the setting lack any real structure, mainly due to the heavy-handed emphasis on Michael's existential crisis, and thus readers see only snippets of a potentially fascinating world filled with people called Sensitives, Collectors, and Inquisitors, while plodding through this loblolly boy's repetitive emotional turmoil. As a mentor to Newborn loblolly boys, Captain Bass is a rather intriguing character, but his appearance is frustratingly brief to make way for Michael's ultimate realization [End Page 35] that he would like to be human again. Those looking for a more nuanced look at the ideas of escape, independence, and mortality would be better served by Neal Shusterman's Everlost (BCCB 12/06). Copyright © 2010 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois