Flying Solo: An Inventive Middle Grade Novel About Sixth-Graders Learning Self-Reliance and Confronting Grief for Kids (Ages 10-12)

When the substitute for Mr. "Fab" Fabiano never shows up and his sixth-grade students are on their own, they set out to prove that they can run the class by themselves. With a little ingenuity and some careful planning, they might just succeed. But when a fight breaks out between Bastian Fauvell and Rachel White over a classmate, Tommy Feathers, who died six months earlier, everything begins to fall apart. Can Rachel deal with the anxieties that plunged her into silence the day Tommy died? Inventive and uniquely constructed, "Flying Solo" follows Mr. Fab's students hour by hour as they tackle the challenges of an unusual school day.

Ralph Fletcher is the author of many well-received books for children, including the novels Fig Pudding and Flying Solo, and the picture books Twilight Comes Twice, Grandpa Never Lies, and Circus Surprise. He lives with his family in New Hampshire. Visit him online at ralphfletcher.com.