The Fledgling by Jane Langton

Rating: My bookshelf

Reading Level: High School

The themes are deep, so a Middle School kid might miss them. It took me a few chapters to get into this book, and I almost gave up. I’m glad I didn’t.

Langton plays with ideas of youth, imagination, and how it is lost as we grow into adulthood and often lose our sense of wonder.

Possible Concerns:

• Guns. A man hunts a beast, and accidentally (unknowingly) shoots a little girl. She is then traumatized by guns.
• Fairies. A woman sees a flying thing and says it was either a small angel or a large fairy. She also is obsessed with the full moon and myths about fairies.
• Fantasy mixed with reality. At first she seems to be just dreaming, but then it turns out the main character really does fly. So it could be confusing to a young reader as reality and fantasy are conflated because mostly it feels like realistic fiction. But it’s not.
• Reincarnation. A man believes a goose is Henry Thoreau reincarnated.
• Trying to fly. Ok this might be me overly cautious, but the little girl tries to fly. She jumps from high up and hurts herself. Eventually she really does fly. So if you have a kid who might copy this, be prepared to take them to the hospital, and hopefully nothing worse than broken bones.

For a person strong enough in their faith to not be shaken by the above, I thought it was an interesting and lovely book. But if your reader entertains ideas about reincarnation or magic in an occult way (fairies on the full moon), you might pass.