The Year I Flew Away

Written by Marie Arnold

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2021. Fiction.

Ten-year-old Gabrielle lives in Hatti where she must help her mother haul water from the well everyday and they don't have electricity. She dreams of going to America where the streets are lined with coins and everyone has so much. Gabrielle finally gets the chance to leave Hatti and come to America but America is very different from what she thought it would be. When she gets to Brooklyn she is shocked by how cold it is and she quickly learns that life isn't easy even in America. School is hard, English is difficult to learn and she is getting bullied and teased because of her accent and how she dresses. When a witch comes along and gives her a magic mango that will grant her three wishes she decides to make a deal. These wishes seem like the answer to all of her problems until Gabrielle finds out her wishes come with a cost.

This book is a heartfelt coming of age story sprinkled with magic that takes a close look at how choices and decisions have consequences. There are lessons about peer pressure, friendship, self-acceptance and realizing the beauty of being different. This story examines what its like to be an immigrant coming to America and is full of rich Haitian culture.

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