Flyaway Hardcover – October 1, 2011

My 13 year old daughter liked this book

This book leads to great discussions on major illnesses of children and adults and how those illnesses affect the family. It also talks about problems protecting wildlife and the importance of that protection. It had great family dynamics. It is a very good all-around story for 6th through 8th grade students.

This book is so interesting and keeps you locked in with it. It's such a wonderful story and I enjoyed reading it.

The book was very intricate and detailed. The author formed pictures in your mind of hope and joy and sadness. I LOVED this book and I would recommend it to my friends.

I hate to be the party-pooper, but...it's not my kind of book. I will agree, it is amazingly-well written; it is very decent with extremely few "bad" words (just a few "idiots" thrown in), it has nicely-spaced larger print; and it is very sensitive.However, there are too many things that are unrealistic and couldn't really happen, that frustrate me. At the hospitals here, anyway, two kids would not be able to sneak out AND get back in AND carry a huge bird wing contraption AND drag mud in and never get caught or kicked out. Medical personnel would not cater to patients and go out with them to some lake. As a parent I would not let my daughter do all the things Isla got away with without punishing her! Also, swans don't normally act the way the one did in the book, coming close enough to let people touch them and acting almost "human" in their thoughts and actions. Animals are animals. There is also too much of something in the book, that I can't define: a hint of a psychological feel, a disturbed girl, a thinking that's too deep for a typical person, something.I read a couple of hours every night and it took me over a week to read this book. The cover is beautiful, and--like I said--the font is great, but I was glad to be done reading it. I also don't like books written in the present tense. I repeat, though, Lucy Christopher did a great job at writing this book.

Amazing book start to finish. you never want to put it down because of all the events that are happening. Isla is a strong independent girl and is someone that everyone can relate to in some way

How interesting can a book be about a kid who's obsessed about swans? Pretty interesting, it turns out.This book is about a little girl named Isla, and she loves swans. Her dad is also obsessed about swans. He goes swan chasing whenever he can. Well, he doesn't actually chase them. He just observes them. Her grandpa is also an animal lover and a vet, but her dad and grandpa don't get along, so they argue about swans a lot.Isla's dad has a really bad heart attack pretty early in the book, and while she's in the hospital, she meets a little kid named Harry, who's a cancer patient. They become good friends and eventually spark up a little romance.I found this book really interesting. Will Isla's dad die? Will her new romance Harry die? Will the swan that got lost from its pack ever find the rest of the swans? Will the feud between dad and grandpa get resolved? Will Isla and her obsession with swans ever fit in with the rest of the kids in her class? This book poses tons of interesting questions. Also, Isla is a really interesting girl. She's completely obsessed with swans, and nobody else really understands that obsession, but she continues with that obsession and uses it to try to figure out growing up.Pros:+Isla is a really interesting main character. She seemed like a real kid, which was cool, because a lot of YA books' protagonists seem a lot older than they really are.+Very interesting, for a book about swans+Poses some complex and intriguing questions+Tackles the difficult topics of parents with health problems, hospitals, and possible death+Very well written+I listened to the audio book, and the reader was awesomeCons:-The "magical" element of this was quick and not pervasive enough throughout the book to really seem well integrated

This is a sweet and heart-wrenching book. Isla, the narrator has a compelling voice, and is very likeable- she is selfless, and her relationship with her family is very strong. Harry, the sick boyfriend, though really shines. Their blooming relationship is innocent, and it is fun to watch it unfold. The loner swan brings them together and parallels their adventure.Spoiler below!!!The only thing I don't like is that it did not give me closure on whether Harry makes it through his transplant. But then again, sometimes the open ended ending really is the best, because you are always rooting for the patient to pull through and for the romance to continue, but as Lurlene McDaniel has proved, there is just something about death that can also make a perfect ending, because it is sad, beautiful, and reflects reality. But, I don't know about real statistics, but the book said 50/50 chance, so in the end it is left to the reader to decide, or you can take her dream of Harry being a swan and migrating as he didn't pull through, or you can find hope in his text and say that he did.

While visiting her father in hospital Isla meets Harry the first boy to understand her and her love for the outdoors but Harry is ill.As Harry’s health fails Isla is determined to help him. Together they watch a lone swan struggling to fly if the lake outside his window.Isla believes if she can help the swan she can help Harry.In doing so she embarks on a magical journey of her own.The story follows Isla on her journey as she visits Harry and her father alongside working on art project for school.It pulls on the heartstrings and had me feeling all the emotions. Filled with magic, love and hope It has become a favourite for me and one I will read again and again.5/5 stars

Worth the read. Once I started I couldn't put it down.Thank you for writing such a wonderful story, ann

J'aurais aimé accrocher plus, mais malheureusement l'histoire de FLYAWAY ne m'a pas plus ému et renversé que ça. Je suis peut-être un peu sadique, mais j'aurais aimé découvrir plus d'intensité, plus de dureté, plus de souffrance. Là, c'est un peu le pays des bisounours. Ok, le roman est chargé d'espoir, mais TROP d'espoir tue l'espoir. J'avais besoin d'être pulvérisé et achevé, pas de simplement être transporté par un récit tout doux et (beaucoup trop) simpliste.Les héros (qu'il s'agisse d'Isla, Jack, leur parent, leur grand-père ou Harry) sont humains et paraissent réalistes. J'ai beaucoup aimé voir toutes les relations entre eux évoluer et voir à quel point tous ces protagonistes étaient capables de changer face aux catastrophes à laquelle ils assistent.Le milieu médical est HYPER bien représenté. Tout est très bien décrit. L'écriture de l'auteure est ultra fluide. Les mots s'enchaînent sans qu'on puisse réellement s'en apercevoir.Malgré tout, il manque à FLYAWAY une bonne dose de tristesse et de véritable émotion pour parvenir à profondément nous marquer. C'est trop facile, trop prévisible. La métaphore du cygne aurait pu être plus poussée et plus approfondie. Ça manque de quelque chose, en fait. FLYAWAY ne possède pas l'étincelle, le "truc" qui rend une lecture inoubliable et c'est fort regrettable car les bases étaient pourtant là.Une lecture moyenne et qui provoque peu de sentiments en nous, c'est dommage.