Whirligig
Books | Juvenile Fiction / General
3.1
(97)
Paul Fleischman
When sixteen-year-old Brent Bishop inadvertently causes the death of a young woman, he is sent on an unusual journey of repentance, building wind toys across the land.In his most ambitious novel to date, Newbery winner Paul Fleischman traces Brent's healing pilgrimage from Washington State to California, Florida, and Maine, and describes the many lives set into new motion by the ingenious creations Brent leaves behind.Paul Fleischman is the master of multivoiced books for younger readers. In Whirligig he has created a novel about hidden connections that is itself a wonder of spinning hearts and grand surprises.
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More Details:
Author
Paul Fleischman
Pages
133
Publisher
Macmillan
Published Date
1998-05-15
ISBN
0805055827 9780805055825
Community ReviewsSee all
"I thought that this was a really beautiful story. The idea that you can take a horrible experience and still turn it into something beautiful that can bring joy to so many. <br/><br/>Whirligig is the story about a boy, Brent who in attempts to kill himself, accidentally kills a teenage girl, Lea. A girl with a seemingly great life, who had a bright future ahead of her. Brent doesn’t seem to get any lasting punishments, and his dad is ready to pay for any restitution. This itself is frustrating. Brent should have had deeper consequences. But I’m the absence of that, I’m glad Lea’s mom had the strength to ask for something, and that Brent’s parents didn’t get to simply throw money at the situation. Lea’s mom asks Brent to build 4 whirligigs in 4 US states Washington, California, Florida, and Maine. Brent does this, and sort of finds himself and finds some meaning to his life in the process. But that’s not why this book was meaningful. What was meaningful was that each whirligig had their own story. Each of them has affected the lives of others in some way. <br/>I appreciated that a part of Lea’s spirit was able to live on. <br/>"
Katie Hensley