Fly Me Home

Product Information

I love the fact that she doesn't shy away from difficult topics and knows that children want to be told the truth, although it doesn't hurt to add a little sprinkle of magic to the mix! Mirabelle says “It’s amazed me at how much I can relate to the book with starting a new school in a new place. The book is a real mix of the magical realism element and real, contemporary issues, and also touches on immigration and the meaning of home. The touch of magical realism was fun but I felt a little uncomfortable about her friendship with Bo - the old man neighbour. Please do not use it in any marketing material, online or in print, without asking permission from me first.

The pack even goes a step further by offering a selection of resources and activities at the end of the pack to support teachers in the classroom. Every single character in this book, good or bad or in between, is superbly written and I loved Leelu and her brother Tiber, who also faces some issues when arriving in England, especially.

Year 6 have really got their teeth stuck in as they explore Leelu’s journey on meeting new friends and the fears faced with starting a new school away from her home.

Leelu has moved to grey, cold London from her warm home country, with her mum and brother, leaving a much-loved father behind. You feel those difficult scenes so clearly with her that I'm sure that anyone reading them would really build up their empathy for anyone else that they met or saw who was going through a similar thing or would identify with it if they had gone through it themselves. This is the story of Leelu, who comes to London from a country far away and has to learn how to live there. When the hard realities underlying the family's plight needed to be explained it was done gently but clearly. But she is not alone… Someone has started leaving strange gifts for Leelu outside her house and they appear to give her magical powers.We felt that in this particular case the insurer's insistence on a written report had been unreasonable. I particularly liked certain scenes - Leelu's first day at school for example, a scene that will hit home with any young person whose experienced a new school. It can be a little infuriating but equally it definitely adds a little something, something to the book. Children will summarise sections of the story and complete an emotions graph for the main character, as well as comparing themes arising through the text as a whole. Being back into the world of a primary school first of all really took me back to my own school experience.

Fly Me Home is an incredibly moving portrait of one family's struggle to adjust to life in a new country.

Through the help of her friend Betsy, her growing relationship with her brother Tiber, and the 'wonders' that are left by Bo, she grows. Not knowing why they had to leave and why her father was left behind, I looked hard for clues in the story. As an adult it bothers me when authors avoid naming countries, but I suspect I would have appreciated it at the age of the intended audience.