From the Michael L. Printz Award-winning author of Dig comes a story about four teenagers as they navigate the pressures of high-stakes modern education and the standardization tests that will define their futures. "At once a statement on the culture of modern schools as well as mental health issues, this novel is an ambitious, haunting work of art."--School Library Journal, starred review "It's bizarre, compelling, and not like anything else."--Publishers Weekly, starred review
Four accomplished teenagers are on the verge of explosion. The anxieties they face at every turn have pushed them to the point of surrender: senseless high-stakes testing, the lingering damage of trauma, the buried grief and guilt of tragic loss. They are desperate to cope--but no one is listening. So they will lie. They will split in two. They will turn inside out. They will build an invisible helicopter to fly themselves far away . . . but nothing releases the pressure. Because, as they discover, the only way to truly escape their world is to fly right into it.
Four accomplished teenagers are on the verge of explosion. The anxieties they face at every turn have pushed them to the point of surrender: senseless high-stakes testing, the lingering damage of trauma, the buried grief and guilt of tragic loss. They are desperate to cope--but no one is listening. So they will lie. They will split in two. They will turn inside out. They will build an invisible helicopter to fly themselves far away . . . but nothing releases the pressure. Because, as they discover, the only way to truly escape their world is to fly right into it.