We Own the Sky

August 1, 2022
Philbrick’s gripping, coastal-Maine-set historical novel opens in 1924, with 12-year-old Davy Michaud and his 17-year-old sister, Jo, burying their mother—a French Canadian emigrant whose cotton mill job led to a “lung ailment” and death not long after their father perished in a mill accident. Facing eviction from the mill-owned tenement where they live, Davy and Jo are relieved when their mom’s famous aviatrix cousin Ruthie whisks them off to work at her flying circus for the summer. Both captivated and terrified by the high-flying acrobatics, Davy is soon won over by a warm welcome from the daredevil pilots and crew, and the start of his own popular act. But the growing presence of the Ku Klux Klan in Maine jeopardizes the children’s life among the circus’s bustling, closely bonded community, comprising immigrants to the U.S. who cue largely as white. Employing a reminiscing tone, Philbrick (Wild River) uses Davy’s extrasensory first-person narration to describe the Klan’s vitriolic rhetoric and violence, as well as behind-the-scenes details around airborne stunts. Chapters filled with plenty of suspense and danger also, as discussed in an author’s note, convey the terror that the KKK inflicted on immigrants in northern states. Ages 8–12. Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary.

October 15, 2022
It's the summer of 1924 when Davy and Jo Michaud take off into a life that dreams--and nightmares--are made of. Newly orphaned and long impoverished, narrator Davy, 12, and Jo, 17, are uncertain about what lies ahead. Their fortunes take a turn for the fantastical, however, when their mother's estranged cousin, hotshot aviatrix Ruthie Reynard, swoops in to take the siblings under her proverbial--and literal--wing. Thrills abound as the children find a new family amid the daredevils and stalwarts of Ruthie's circus. But behind the ever present danger of stunting lies a far more sinister threat, one from which the siblings and those they love might not escape. Set in Maine against the backdrop of the revival of the Ku Klux Klan in the Northeast, this vivid picture of senseless violence will hit home for today's readers. As invectives fuel anti-immigrant sentiment, Davy realizes that he and his sister, whose father was an immigrant from Quebec, are the "foreign invaders" the Klan hates. The circus plot thread, full of heart and warmth, clashes with these themes in a way that keeps readers firmly invested in the fates of tenderly crafted characters they will grow to love. The first-person narration reads somewhat awkwardly, though it's befitting of a young not-quite-man still growing into himself and his place in the world. Characters default to White. A timeless, timely, and poignant tale of derring-do. (information you may find interesting, photograph, additional reading) (Fiction. 8-12)

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November 1, 2022
Twelve-year-old Davy Michaud and his older sister Josephine face dim prospects in 1924 Biddeford, Maine, after their mother's burial. A lung ailment caused by work in a cotton mill led to her death; their father died years before in a mill accident. Then their mother's cousin, famous aviatrix Ruthie Reynard, comes to the rescue, inviting the two to join her flying circus for the summer. Davy and Jo find their places in the diverse circus community, but it's that diversity -- French Canadians, Italians, Jews, Blacks, Irish, and Catholics -- that draws the attention of the Ku Klux Klan, which has already attracted one hundred thousand followers in Maine. Since the small Black population of Maine provides few targets, the northern Klan attacks immigrants, especially French Canadians who have come to work in the mills. The tale balances the soaring dreams and courage of early female flyers (including Jo's new success as a wing walker) and the basest prejudices of the Klan. Philbrick's fast-paced, action-packed narrative includes deeper layers of difficult history that still resonate today. Pair with Karen Hesse's verse novel Witness (rev. 11/01), also about the Maine Klan. An author's note and suggestions for further reading are appended. Dean Schneider

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2022
Twelve-year-old Davy Michaud and his older sister Josephine face dim prospects in 1924 Biddeford, Maine, after their mother's burial. A lung ailment caused by work in a cotton mill led to her death; their father died years before in a mill accident. Then their mother's cousin, famous aviatrix Ruthie Reynard, comes to the rescue, inviting the two to join her flying circus for the summer. Davy and Jo find their places in the diverse circus community, but it's that diversity -- French Canadians, Italians, Jews, Blacks, Irish, and Catholics -- that draws the attention of the Ku Klux Klan, which has already attracted one hundred thousand followers in Maine. Since the small Black population of Maine provides few targets, the northern Klan attacks immigrants, especially French Canadians who have come to work in the mills. The tale balances the soaring dreams and courage of early female flyers (including Jo's new success as a wing walker) and the basest prejudices of the Klan. Philbrick's fast-paced, action-packed narrative includes deeper layers of difficult history that still resonate today. Pair with Karen Hesse's verse novel Witness (rev. 11/01), also about the Maine Klan. An author's note and suggestions for further reading are appended.

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)