The Year I Flew Away by Marie Arnold

 

Welcome Back, Booklovers!  It's Black History Month and there's so many great releases over the course of February and March. The Year I Flew Away is a middle grade novel by Marie Arnold that takes place in 80s Brooklyn and just what I needed after a rough read. 

Gabrielle is a 10 year old girl who gets the opportunity to move from Haiti to the US. It's what many kids in her village dream of. And though she'll be far from her parents she's excited all the same. She's heard so many great things about America from the streets being lined with coins and everyone having so much no one needs to pick them up. When she arrives in New York she's shocked and not just by the coldest weather she's ever experienced. Life outside of Haiti isn't as magical as she thought. She can't speak the language and the kids make fun of her. She also finds out money isn't as free flowing in America as she thought. Her aunt and uncle both work three jobs to provide for the family and it seems like the phone never stops ringing with calls to send money back home. And there are people who don't like her family just because they're themselves. If only she could be the perfect American girl.

Just wanting to fit in Gabrielle makes a deal with a witch for 3 wishes in exchange for giving up part of herself each time she makes the wish. And soon Gabrielle finds out the parts of her she looses are the very essence of what makes her. 

I think children in 3rd and 4th grade will enjoy this as it's easy to read and Gabrielle's narrative voice flows as if she is telling a friend a story.  It's a fast paced and easy to read story for them and the magic elements will help keep them engaged. I did wish the author would've used Gabrielle's special gift a little more as it has a big presence in the beginning of the story but not throughout. There's plenty of immigrant representation in this story not only from Haiti but other parts of the world. Being set in 1985 makes for fun pop culture references but this story just as easily could've been set in present day and nothing would change. Reading this in some ways took me back to navigating childhood as the daughter of immigrants. 

I received an advance reader copy from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's Book Group in exchange for an honest review.