In conjunction with the Ruffing Montessori School book fair, I will be doing a reading from BORN TO FLY at the Barnes and Noble bookstore at Crocker Park, Westlake, Ohio, Thursday, December 10, at 6:30 PM.

Here’s a review from The Brain Lair.

BORN TO FLY will be reviewed in the November issue of the Horn Book magazine

Set at the onset of World War II (the bombing of Pearl Harbor happens at the end of the first chapter), Ferrari’s debut novel is chock-full of both action and theme. Eleven-year-old Bird, known for her overactive imagination, has few—okay, make that no—friends. Only her mechanic father understands her and her passion for flying. When he joins up and is sent overseas, Bird feels lost, so when a stranger comes to her small Rhode Island town, she’s ripe for companionship. This new friend is Kenji, who, in the parlance of the book and the times, is a “Jap”; his parents are imprisoned in Manzanar and, yes, he’s distrusted by the locals. While fishing on the Atlantic shore, the two spot a submarine, but their story is dismissed as a ridiculous tale from two misfits seeking attention. In fact, there is a spy in their midst, with plans to kill President Roosevelt. Bird and Kenji uncover the spy’s identity and thwart the plan, with Bird taking the wheel of a P-40 Warhawk fighter plane in a race to save the president. There’s enough detail about the times, the characters, and the airplanes to keep the narrative from becoming too over-the-top—but just barely. All in all, it’s a spirited flyover of the home front, family tragedy, and national prejudice.
- B.C.