Review Detail

Ok confession time. This is my first Jennifer Echols book, *GASP* but there needs to be an understanding that I didn't really get into YA until about two years ago. I had read in middle school, but it wasn't until the end of high school that I redeveloped a love. Even then it wasn't until a few semesters into college that I got super serious about it. So please, my dear readers, please forgive me. Anyways, I can say that I understand what the hype was all about. I'm surprised the book stayed in my hands... I thought it was going to take me away.

Leah is what she considers "trailer park trash" and her mother is the epitome of "bad mom" and there is no present father. Despite her circumstances, or maybe because of, Leah decides that she wants to learn to fly. All of their trailer parks in the many moves have been right next to the airport. Leah finds a love in flying that many of us will never experience. Mr. Hall, owner of Hall Aviation, agrees to start giving her flying lessons. Eventually, she kind of becomes the daughter he never had. He helps her get her commercial pilot license *which is really a big deal* and he is on his way to help her reach the next level. Sadly, he passes away. His son, the always-into-trouble Grayson, comes home to agree to run the business with the help of his twin brother Alec. Sadly, their problems are great and Leah is dragged into them. Flying is all she's ever wanted to do, but the twins might just take that away too.

Anyways, that might be an extreme summary, but I'd say it's pretty accurate. So let's start with Leah. The girl is super tough on the outside, but her life has had a huge impact on her. If I was her, I'd probably be a bit bitter too. Still, with Mr. Hall's reigning influence over her life, Leah is a person full of strong character. He kept her from making some very stupid mistakes because he gave her something to live for. I really admired that man, and in turn Leah for sticking with it. She had a passion that I rarely see among teens. That passion made her very likable. Her best friend Molly was a riot. She was always into something too.

Ok so the boys. The Hall twins. Smokey the Bear needs to keep his eyes out for these two. SMOKING!!! Alec was a total sweetheart and a "pretty" boy. Grayson pretty much forces Leah to "date" his twin. That part of the book is definitely interesting, if not incredibly frustrating. Why frustrating?? Because Grayson and Leah are definitely into each other. The tension when they were around each other? Yeah it lead to some things. That's why I would recommend this book to older girls. I wouldn't leave it with my middle schoolers. Also Grayson tended to run hot and cold. One minute he was being a total sweetheart and taking care of Leah when she obviously couldn't do it. The other, he was being a class-a jerk. Talk about wanting to hit yourself in the head with the book....

My absolute favorite part of the book? The airplanes. I have the secret dream of taking flying lessons. Ms. Echols really did her research. She used a lot of plane jargon in an "even an idiot could understand this" type of way. I learned a lot, and I seriously wanted to go out and fly. I had to remind myself that I really knew nothing about flying a plane. But the time in the air in the book was probably my favorite part. I loved the idea of flying.