Families love each other.
Cranes migrate from Finland to Spain for winter.
Sometimes, things don’t go as planned…
When an injured young crane can’t leave with its flock, autistic teen Jadran decides that he and younger brother Josh must teach it to fly and go south.
Never mind that their city apartment is crowded since Mom remarried and Murad moved in with his daughter Yasmin… Sprig will stay on the balcony until he’s healed.
Josh knows that being Sprig’s teacher using the blue wings from Mom’s old costumes is a bad plan, but the 11 year old also knows Jadran will have a howling meltdown if they don’t try.
The law of gravity still applies to best intentions, Jadran still plows on with an idea stuck in his head, and Sprig really, really needs to catch up with the other cranes.
So away the Muslim brothers go, a road trip with Sprig… a most unusual road trip.
Can Sprig learn to fly?
Will they get him to the flock in time?
Will Jadran find his place in this big loud world?
A story of brotherly bonds and learning to let go.
**kmm
Book info: The Blue Wings / Jef Aerts; translated by Laura Watkinson; illustrated by Martjin van der Linden. Levine Querido, 2020. [author site] [translator site] [illustrator site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.