Flight Risk: A Novel - Hardcover

Jennifer Fenn has worked as a middle school language arts teacher and has had short fiction and essays published in numerous publications. She lives with her husband, daughter, and Scottish terrier in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Flight Risk is her debut novel.

Gr 9 Up—A debut novel inspired by true events. Robert Jackson Kelley idolizes his fugitive father, Robert Kelley Senior. He is proud of his dad's accomplishments as an Operation Desert Storm war hero. Robert spends most of his time with his beloved beagle mix, Hulk, and his flight simulator. He is a poor student and, with the exception of Joey Kovach, has few friends. Robert wants to leave his trailer park home to become an air force pilot, but his aspirations go awry when he and Joey are expelled from high school for selling Robert's mother Deb's Adderall pills. Right before Robert is transferred to Sea Brook Youth Home, Deb blurts out a huge revelation about Robert Senior's checkered past. Robert escapes and hides out in unlocked homes, steals and crashes three planes, walks away unscathed, and is labeled a juvenile delinquent and a criminal mastermind by the media. The teen becomes a folk hero nicknamed the Lollipop Kid, with a rock song dedicated to him. Fenn deftly portrays Robert and Deb as ordinary working-class citizens. Robert's story is told through multiple points of view and documentary sources. Fenn pulls readers in with her coverage of three decades of American political and social issues. There are numerous references to the 2016 election and the Trump administration: the book focuses on the working class, uses the term flight risk to reference the Muslim travel ban, includes a Megyn Kelly—esque talk show host character, and describes Canada as a fugitive refuge. VERDICT Teens will love the documentary-style narrative and will root for underdog antihero Robert.—Donald Peebles, Brooklyn Public Library