Analyn "Apple" Yengko is a twelve-year-old Filipino girl. She's passionate about music (although her mom won't let her have a guitar), especially the Beatles.I'm not so stoked about her situation. When she gets put on the Dog Log, a list of the ugliest girls in school, her friends drop her like a hot potato. People bark at her in the hallways, say her family eats dogs for dinner, and she is accused of theft.
It really feels like middle school. And like middle school, the only way Apple gets through it is with the help of some friends.
I enjoyed Blackbird Fly. I know it was meant for much younger readers, I'd guess around grades 3-7, but that just meant it was a really quick read. I read it on the train downtown and back, and finished it before I got off the train.
The book wasn't particularly groundbreaking, but I'm just so excited for a canonically Filipino protagonist. And she isn't a Mary Sue either. She has very specific interests and struggles and and has a unique but complicated relationship with her mother and makes poor choices that follows her own logic. So not everyone will see themselves reflected in Apple. They're not meant to. But chances are, most will be able to relate. They might see slivers of themselves in other characters. But it should be a window into someone else's world.
And if you're long past your middle school days, Blackbird Fly by Erin Estrada Kelly will remind you of why you're glad middle school is behind you.
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