Dreaming of Flight, Catherine Ryan Hyde

This might be a tricky review to write, as it would be easy to spoil certain aspects of the book. I would recommend not reading reviews before reading this, but you’re here now, so at least read this one.

What an emotional book!

Stewie is an exceptional boy. He’s faced so much loss in his young life and carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. But he has his brother, sister, and Gam’s chickens, and his small world is better because of that. So when he meets Marilyn, she reminds him of his Gam because she, too, has her own unique brand of cranky. So it makes sense for these two to form a friendship.

I like Marilyn. I think she’s someone that Stewie needs in his life. He doesn’t always go about things traditionally, and Marilyn is a person who can help him see things and work things out.

Stewart speaks up when he doesn’t understand things because he wants to learn. He loves and feels so deeply. What he has to say is thoughtful; it’s deep and moving. The most important note I made while reading this was, “Why can’t I stop crying?” I cried for the last 1/5th of the book. It’s like Ryan Hyde peeked into my life and repeatedly wrote it in Stewie. It hurt, it was emotional, and it wrecked me. This is such a beautiful book. I highlighted so many things Stewie said to others that I feel will stay with me a long time. Thank you, Lake Union Publishing, for sending this very special read along.

Dreaming of Flight is available for preorder on Amazon, Bookshop, and B&N, it releases May 3rd.

About the Book:

Never knowing his parents, eleven-year-old Stewie Little and his brother have been raised on a farm by their older sister. Stewie steadfastly tends the chickens left by his beloved late grandmother. And every day Stewie goes door to door selling fresh eggs from his wagon—a routine with a surprise just around the corner. It’s his new customer, Marilyn. She’s prickly and guarded, yet comfortably familiar—she reminds the grieving Stewie so much of the grandmother he misses more than he can express.

Marilyn has a reason for keeping her distance: a secret no one knows about. Her survival tactic is to draw a line between herself and other people—one that Stewie is determined to cross. As their visits become more frequent, a complicated but deeply rooted relationship grows. That’s when Stewie discovers how much more there is to Marilyn, to her past, and to challenges that become more pressing each day. But whatever difficult times lie ahead, Stewie learns that although he can’t fix everything for Marilyn or himself, at least he’s no longer alone.

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