Just Fly Away

by Andrew McCarthy

Overview

A New York Times Bestseller

“Ever wish that you could just fly away?”

When fifteen-year-old Lucy Willows discovers that her father has a child from a brief affair, an eight-year-old boy who lives in her own suburban New Jersey town, she begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her home and her life. How could Lucy’s father have betrayed the entire family? How could her mother forgive him? And why isn’t her sister rocked by the news the way Lucy is? 

As her father’s secret becomes her own, Lucy grows more and more isolated from her friends, her family, and even her boyfriend, Simon, the one person she thought understood her. When Lucy escapes to Maine, the home of her mysteriously estranged grandfather, she finally begins to get to the bottom of her family’s secrets and lies.

Just Fly Away is a debut novel about family secrets, first love, the limits of forgiveness, and finding one’s way in the world from an award-winning writer, actor, and director.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781616208004
Publisher:	Algonquin Young Readers
Publication date:	03/27/2018
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	165,243
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

Andrew McCarthy is the author of the New York Times bestselling travel memoir, The Longest Way Home. He is an editor at large at National Geographic Traveler magazine. He is also an actor and director. He lives in New York City with his wife, three children, two fish, and one dog. Just Fly Away is his first novel. You can find him online at andrewmccarthy.com or on Twitter: @AndrewTMcCarthy.
 

Editorial Reviews

…fantastic…The story's unexpected turns will keep readers rapt, and Lucy's voice—reserved, blunt, sarcastic—feels as bone true as that of any Y.A. character in recent memory. McCarthy has real insight into the way adolescents withdraw emotionally, wrapping themselves in protective cocoons of silence…It's a debut as stark and striking as the Maine landscape.

The New York Times Book Review - Catherine Hong

02/13/2017
Fifteen-year-old Lucy Willows is blindsided when she learns that she has an eight-year-old half brother, Thomas, a product of her father’s infidelity. Overwhelmed by her father’s past actions and her mother’s calm acceptance of them, Lucy goes into a tailspin and begins thinking that every young boy she sees could be Thomas. When she tracks him down and her father finds out, she takes off, seeking refuge with her estranged grandfather. Welcomed by him, Lucy finds comfort and begins to accept the hard truth that parents are fallible. In his first book for teens, actor and author McCarthy (The Longest Way Home) sensitively explores the difficult process of learning to accept loved ones despite their shortcomings, although Lucy’s inner thoughts can feel restrained and overly mature at times. Through discussions with her grandfather, Lucy begins to see her father as a complicated individual with a history that includes joy, sadness, successes, and mistakes. Readers will appreciate the honest conversations between Lucy and her family, which underscore the importance of communication to foster connection and understanding. Ages 14–up. Agent: David Patterson, Stuart Krichevsky Agency. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Fantastic . . . The story’s unexpected turns will keep readers rapt, and Lucy’s voice—reserved, blunt, sarcastic—feels as bone true as that of any YA character in recent memory.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“McCarthy sensitively explores the difficult process of learning to accept loved ones despite their shortcomings." 
—Publishers Weekly

“A poignant, character-driven coming-of-age novel.”
—Kirkus Reviews
 
“This is a moving coming-of-age story for young adults who enjoy calm, character-driven reading. It is also a title that should be flying off the shelves.”
—VOYA

From the Publisher

Fifteen-year-old Lucy overhears a conversation between her parents and finds out that her father had a casual affair eight years ago that produced a child named Thomas who lives nearby; although he and his wife worked things out, they chose not to tell their two daughters. Lucy is hurt, angry, and indignant and isolates herself from her entire family. She instead turns to her friend Maxine and Maxine’s older brother Simon, with whom she begins a romantic relationship. When Lucy eventually confides the family’s secret to Simon, expressing her heartache over it, his indifference unravels her. She impulsively takes off to visit her grandfather, who is virtually a stranger to her. She travels by train and bus from New Jersey to Maine, arriving unannounced at her grandfather’s home, hoping to find some clarity about her family. Her grandfather tells Lucy stories about her father’s childhood in their small town, and shows her around, in an effort to help her understand her father. When her grandfather suffers a series of strokes, her father drives to Maine, hoping to repair his relationship with both his father and Lucy. Teens will identify with the hurt Lucy feels at her father’s betrayal and the questions it raises for her about trust and family. Teen readers will enjoy her journey to be with a grandparent who will not judge her. Interactions between family members are realistic and engaging; especially the unconditional love and acceptance between a grandparent and grandchild. This is a moving coming-of-age story for young adults who enjoy calm, character-driven reading. It is also a title that should be flying off the shelves. Reviewer: Rachel Axelrod; Ages 12 to 18.

VOYA, February 2017 (Vol. 39, No. 6) - Rachel Axelrod

03/01/2017
Gr 7–10—Until now, Lucy's life has been happy. That changes when she discovers that she has a younger brother from a brief affair her father had eight years earlier. Suddenly, Lucy loses interest in school and patience with close friends and family. When school ends, she spends her summer with a new friend, Maxine, and develops a relationship with Maxine's brother, Simon. Meanwhile, Lucy gives her father the silent treatment. Her feelings finally overwhelm her, and she unexpectedly hops on a train to New York City and ends up on a bus to Maine to visit her grandfather, whom she has met only once before. During her visit with him, the protagonist learns a lot about the people around her and about herself. This is clearly a coming-of-age story, in which Lucy must realize that her parents (and grandfather) are human and can make mistakes. Her trip to Maine realistically highlights the dangers of traveling alone as a teenager, and her relationship with Simon shows age-appropriate sexual exploration. While the plot seems like it should be action-packed given its story line, the writing is slow and deliberate, which not all readers will enjoy. Save this novel for your most thoughtful readers. VERDICT A good selection for large YA collections.—Kelly Jo Lasher, Middle Township High School, Cape May Court House, NJ

School Library Journal

2016-12-26
Fifteen-year-old Lucy's world is rocked when her father confesses to her and her sister that they have a half brother, the result of a brief affair. Though their mother has been aware of the existence of Thomas, who's 8 and lives in their same New Jersey town, for many years and has made her peace with her husband's infidelity, Lucy reels when she learns about him. Her realistically described reaction of fury and indignation builds until she finally embarks on an impulsive road trip without telling her parents, ending up at her larger-than-life grandfather's house in Maine. This family drama is appealingly narrated in Lucy's wry, confessional voice, and a romance she stumbles into with her friend's stoner brother is sweetly fumbling and awkward. All the major characters seem to be white; musings about the ethnicities of various people Lucy encounters while on her clandestine trip, including a passage in which she wonders whether her own implicit bias might be at play in an interaction she has with a black man, underscore her new determination to seek out answers to questions that have gone unasked in her sheltered upbringing. A poignant, character-driven coming-of-age novel that, despite a too-tidy ending, will appeal broadly to teen readers. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews