Flying Tips for Flightless Birds

A teen novel about friendships, first romance and accepting who you are, set against a circus-showbiz backdrop. For fans of R.J. Palacio’s Wonder, Sarah Crossan and Susin Nielsen’s We Are All Made of Molecules.

From debut author Kelly McCaughrain comes a sweet and kooky romcom starring flying-trapeze double act and brother/sister twins, Finch and Birdie Franconi, and their geeky friend, Hector Hazzard. After Birdie’s terrifying trapeze accident, serious performer Finch and clumsy wannabe Hector must work together to save the family circus school and put on the biggest show ever. Together they learn to walk the high-wire of teen life and juggle the demands of friends, family, first love and facing up to who they are – all served up with a dash of circus-showbiz magic.

Review

“Flying tips for Flightless Birds is a quirky and complex story, told with an elegant simplicity that hooks you from the first few pages. A gentle but gripping exploration of the highs and lows of being a young person, of love, friends and the relationship we have with ourselves and others.” * The Book Bag *

About the Author

Kelly McCaughrain lives in Belfast, where she works with disabled students in further education, and has just completed a degree in English and Creative Writing at Queens University. She was shortlisted for the 2013 Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Prize. When she isn’t writing she also works in a charity bookshop and takes long holidays in her 1967 classic campervan, Gerda. Flying Tips for Flightless Birds is her first novel.