Paper Airplanes

Gr 10 Up—In this captivating and at times gritty debut, O'Porter presents a funny and poignant coming-of-age friendship of Flo and Renée. It's 1994, and the 15-year-olds are each facing their share of troubles on the small British island of Guernsey. Flo's parents have split up, and she's dealing with a critical mother at home and an incredibly domineering best friend at school. Renée is an extroverted troublemaker at school, but feels like a stranger in the home she shares with her bulimic younger sister and emotionally unavailable grandparents. The girls bond over the shared experience of familial tragedy and become close friends, exchanging notes on paper airplanes and finding in each other the support they crave. Readers will be drawn into the story, which moves quickly through alternating first-person narrations, which also serves to reveal potential cracks in the teens' bond. By the end, each girl comes to learn the importance of friendship and forgiveness and that the past, while not forgotten, doesn't have to define you. Though their behavior can be frustrating at times—Flo not standing up to mean girl Sally; Renée secretly having sex with Flo's older brother (in a scene that is entirely more heartbreaking than risqué)—readers will root for the pair and will also eagerly await the sequel.—Amanda Mastrull, Library Journal