Flying Lessons & Other Stories

Cover Image: Flying Lessons & Other Stories

Whether it is basketball dreams, family fiascos, first crushes, or new neighborhoods, this bold anthology - written by the best children’s authors - celebrates the uniqueness and universality in all of us.

In a partnership with We Need Diverse Books, industry giants Kwame Alexander, Soman Chainani, Matt de la Peña, Tim Federle, Grace Lin, Meg Medina, Walter Dean Myers, Tim Tingle, and Jacqueline Woodson join newcomer Kelly J. Baptist in a story collection that is as humorous as it is heartfelt. This impressive group of authors has earned among them every major award in children’s publishing and popularity as New York Times bestsellers.

From these distinguished authors come ten distinct and vibrant stories.

Table of Contents & Cast of Narrators:

Foreword, written and read by Ellen Oh

How to Transform an Everyday Hoop Court Into a Place of Higher Learning and You at the Podium by Matt de la Peña, read by Dion Graham

The Difficult Path by Grace Lin, read by Samantha Quan

Sol Painting, Inc., written and read by Meg Medina

Secret Samantha by Tim Federle, read by Julia Whelan

The Beans and Rice Chronicles of Isaiah Dunn by Kelly J. Baptist, read by Adam Lazarre-White

Choctaw Bigfoot, Midnight in the Mountains, written and read by Tim Tingle

Main Street by Jacqueline Woodson, read by Abigail Revasch

Flying Lessons by Soman Chainani, read by Sunil Malhotra

Seventy-Six Dollars and Forty-Nine Cents, written and read by Kwame Alexander

Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push by Walter Dean Myers, read by Dominic Hoffman

ABOUT WE NEED DIVERSE BOOKS, read by Ellen Oh

There’s plenty of magic in this collection to go around. -Booklist, Starred

“A natural for middle school classrooms and libraries, this strong collection should find eager readers”

-Kirkus, Starred

Inclusive, authentic, and eminently readable, this collection of short stories is an excellent addition for libraries and classrooms.-School Library Journal, Starred