84 p. Wordsong/ Boyds Mills Press, September, 2013. 9781590789858. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher)
Gabby is a daydreamer, like her father. She never knows what will send her tripping into her daydream world, but she finds refuge in it when her parents' fighting escalates. When they divorce and she and her mom move and she starts a new school, she finds she is happier there than where she should be:
To these kids,/ I'm not Gabby yet./ I'm just Shy Girl/ Who lives/ Inside Her Head.
Living with just her mother now seems to intensify the scrutiny, especially as Gabby realizes that being so much like her father probably displeases her mother.
Favorite Words
Mine: Pretend.
Mom's: Practical.
All we have in common
is the letter P.
Gabby likes her new teacher but is embarrassed about being called out about her daydreaming. So she puts them away and does her best to be in this world. Only it gets her down and after a while Mr. Spicer notices and asks to have his daydreamer back. He promises that if she try to focus during lessons, he will build some daydreaming time into class each day. It is this gift as well as the discovery of a like-minded potential friend that lifts Gabby's spirits.
Four weeks have passed/ and my notebook is thick/ with daydreams./ Funny how much better/ I'm doing in school./
Words with Wings is spare and lovely and filled with moving and poignant moments. It would make a perfect read-aloud in that it is rather brief but very powerful, apt to spark some interesting class discussion and/ or reflection, and could be used as inspiration for a writing unit.
Highly recommended. This is another 2013 favorite.
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