Whirligig by Paul Fleischman
New to town, Brent Bishop longs to stroll around school with the popular Brianna on his arm. But when Brianna begs him at a party full of schoolmates to stop hounding her, Brent's hopes are shattered. Trying to escape his humiliation, he attempts to destroy himself in a car crash--and ends up killing Lea, an innocent teen unfortunate enough to cross his path. Lea's mother asks one thing of Brent: that he create four whirligigs from a picture of Lea and set them up at the four corners of the United States. Lea's mother believes that by spreading the joy that whirligigs gave Lea as a child, Brent will keep Lea's spirit alive. And so Brent goes off with an unlimited bus ticket and the tools he needs to memorialize Lea. On his journey, he rediscovers his own love of life, and he begins to realize how--like the pieces that form the intricate whirligigs--people come together to affect each other in surprising ways.
Paul Fleischman is the award-winning author of many books for children and young adults, including JOYFUL NOISE: POEMS FOR TWO VOICES, winner of the Newbery Medal; WESLANDIA, a SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL Best Book of the Year and an American Library Association Notable Children's Book; and THE ANIMAL HEDGE, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. It came out of the blue, Paul Fleischman says of SIDEWALK CIRCUS. A vision of a ringmaster standing on a city street, describing the sun rising and the clouds changing color as if they were circus acts. Eventually, I decided to leave him out of the story. And then I decided to leave the words out as well. Kevin Hawkes is the illustrator of a number of popular books for children, including WESLANDIA and HANDEL, WHO KNEW WHAT HE LIKED, an American Library Association Notable Children's Book and recipient of a BOSTON GLOBE-HORN BOOK Honor Award. He says, As I worked on SIDEWALK CIRCUS, I spent a lot of time in Portland, Maine. I was amazed by all the things going on in the city, and all the people and things I had never really noticed before. I am grateful to Paul Fleischman for opening my eyes.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780440228356 |
| ISBN 10 | 0440228352 |
| Title | Whirligig |
| Author | Paul Fleischman |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc |
| Year published | 1999-11-09 |
| Number of pages | 133 |
| Prizes | Young Hoosier Book Award, Young Reader's Choice Award, California Young Reader Medal |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |