When Millie was little, a magical “small person with wings” (don’t ever call them fairies!) lived with her and her family. He was her special, secret friend: he made beautiful illusions in her room, turned squash (yuck) into candy corn, and most off all, he never made her feel bad about her weight.
One day Millie brags about him to her kindergarten class, promising to bring Fidius to show and tell, and instantly the kids want to be her friend. When Millie tells Fidius about what she did, she realizes she broke his trust and the next day he leaves her forever. The loss of her magical friend is only her first disappointment, though; because now she must face years of cruel torment at school, disillusionment and distrust of the adults in her life, and worst of all, the realization that “imagination is a part of life, but it also sucks.”
Then in 7th grade, Millie’s cantankerous old grandfather dies, so she and her parents move back to the small seaside town to fix up and sell the old inn he ran. Once there, Millie discovers a legacy that at first she cannot allow herself to believe and a challenge that will turn her world into something she never thought possible.
Millie’s a great central character in Ellen Booraem’s Small Persons With Wings: she’s vulnerable and insecure, but she also makes conscious choices to be strong in the face of teasing and bullying, to believe in herself and accept her “faults.” She never allows herself to be a victim, even though she wishes things were different. But Millie’s strength has the consequence of shutting her off from the possibility of trusting others and her own imagination. Small Persons With Wings is a charming story about misfits who, once they stop trying to “fit in” to what everyone else expects them to be and they accept their own special gifts and uniqueness of character, discover the magic of being happy with themselves and the splendor of true friendship.
- Posted by Cori