This historic fiction covers teen romance, murder and racial injustice. Told from the perspective of a clever girl who loves to fly, this coming of age story focuses on what people have in common and how people from unique backgrounds can become confidants and friends. While teens may easily connect to the older sister's boy crazy antics and the bullying culture at school, it may be difficult for teens to connect to the wide variety of historical references such as John Wayne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers. Then again spies and nefarious submarines might peek their curiosity and keep them reading. ( )

This is my Condense Review:
I enjoyed seeing that a girl wanted to fly a plane. That her dad was teaching her. Her dad let her have her chance of landing a plane on her birthday. This book does have some action and Adventure. Those their a mystery unfolds once her father was drafted to sent off to fight in the war.

There information about WWII in this book and about the attack on Pearl Harbor. It does give some information on our history. It goes into issues about bullying, prejudiced, Learning to make friends, I see what kids and others did to other kids back then.

To see my Full Review go here to read it: [a href="http://nrcbooks.blogspot.com/2012/05/review-born-to-fly.html"]My Full Review[/a] ( )

This is my Condense Review:
I enjoyed seeing that a girl wanted to fly a plane. That her dad was teaching her. Her dad let her have her chance of landing a plane on her birthday. This book does have some action and Adventure. Those their a mystery unfolds once her father was drafted to sent off to fight in the war.

There information about WWII in this book and about the attack on Pearl Harbor. It does give some information on our history. It goes into issues about bullying, prejudiced, Learning to make friends, I see what kids and others did to other kids back then.

To see my Full Review go here to read it: [a href="http://nrcbooks.blogspot.com/2012/05/review-born-to-fly.html"]My Full Review[/a] ( )

Gr 4-7-Bird McGill regards her dad as her best friend. He takes her up in the planes he repairs and lets her take the controls, and he encourages her dream of becoming a pilot. But a special bulletin disrupts her 11th-birthday afternoon: Japan has attacked the military base in Pearl Harbor, and Bird's world is turned upside down. During the next few months, the local airstrip is turned into a military flight school, and her dad is shipped overseas. When a Japanese-American boy joins Bird's class that spring, he is met with distrust. Although his uncle, with whom he is staying, is a longtime resident of Bird's Rhode Island town, they are both thought to be spies, or at least loyal to Japan. Circumstances compel Kenji and Bird to join forces one day to escape Farley, a class bully, and in the process they stumble on evidence of an enemy submarine in the area. When they attempt to report what they have seen, nobody believes them. Their problems are compounded when Farley's shiftless father is murdered and the local engine factory is sabotaged: Kenji's uncle is blamed. Only Bird can clear Uncle Tomo, but the murderer has threatened to kill her family if she speaks up. Well-developed characters make this story of friendship amid hostilities shine. While the coincidences surrounding the murderer can stretch credulity at times, this action-packed first novel is full of engaging twists and turns, and readers learn about the injustices done to many Japanese Americans during World War II. First-rate historical fiction.-Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
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Don't judge this book by the cover! Born to Fly takes place during WWII, a time when the Japanese were treated suspiciously in the US. Bird finds a friend in Kenji, but the town is against him. However, there is a real spy in the town... how can Bird and Kenji prove it? This book really shows what life was like during the war--eating from victory gardens, fathers gone to war, mothers filling in, etc. This book has a good story and an even better depiction of that era. ( )