Well Fly Away, Bryan Bliss
Well Fly Away, Bryan Bliss
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
Club: $13.49

We'll Fly Away

Author: Bryan Bliss

Narrator: James Fouhey

Unabridged: 8 hr 49 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/08/2018


Synopsis

National Book Award Longlist Title * Booklist Editors’ Choice * CYBILS Young Adult Fiction Finalist * Nerdy Book Club Award for Best Young Adult Fiction * Paste Magazine Best Book * YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults“A compelling and raw story.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)“[Bliss dares] his readers not only to see the depths of human complexity, but to care.”—Booklist (starred review)Luke and Toby have always had each other’s backs. But then one choice—or maybe it is a series of choices—sets them down an irrevocable path. We’ll Fly Away weaves together Luke and Toby’s senior year of high school with letters Luke writes to Toby later—from death row.Best friends since childhood, Luke and Toby have dreamed of one thing: getting out of their dead-end town. Soon they finally will, riding the tails of Luke’s wrestling scholarship, never looking back. If they don’t drift apart first. If Toby’s abusive dad, or Luke’s unreliable mom, or anything else their complicated lives throw at them doesn’t get in the way.Tense and emotional, this hard-hitting novel explores family abuse, sex, love, and friendship, and how far people will go to protect those they love. For fans of Jason Reynolds, Marieke Nijkamp, and NPR’s Serial podcast.Praise for We’ll Fly Away:""Bryan Bliss has written an empathetic and stirring novel about what it means to fight for the outcasts, the forgotten, and even the hated, reminding us that we all have worth. That we are all valuable.""—Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking“A poignant story of loyalty, abuse, and poverty. . . . This compassionate and beautifully rendered novel packs an emotional punch.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“A smart, rugged, all-too-true story of friendship under fire. Believable characters and page-turning tension.”—Chris Crutcher, author of Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes“This fast-paced read will have teens tearing through chapters to find out why Luke is in jail. . . . The conclusion will leave them devastated. This is [a] touching book about male friendship for fans of Jason Reynolds.”—School Library Journal“The unshakable and unconditional bond between the young men is tested and proves true, a ray of light in the darkness of their stories.”—VOYA

About Bryan Bliss

Bryan Bliss is the author of the National Book Award longlist title We’ll Fly Away as well as Thoughts & Prayers, Meet Me Here, and No Parking at the End Times. He is an Episcopal priest and a creative writing teacher, and he holds master’s degrees in theology and fiction. His nonfiction has been published in Image Journal along with various other newspapers, magazines, and blogs. He lives with his family in St. Paul, Minnesota.


Reviews

3.5 STARS High school wrestling phenom Luke and his best friend, Toby are an odd pair. Toby, a victim of his father’s abuse and bullied at school relies on his stronger, bigger friend to protect him. That was then. Now Luke is on death row, writing Toby letters of apology. Readers don’t know why Luke......more

Goodreads review by maya ⟢ on April 21, 2020

*4.5 stars i'm a broken human being. this was so, so horrible in ways that i truly did not see coming. cool. imma start off with the bad stuff: the romance. ew. very badly done in my opinion and way too rushed and sometimes i just wanted to yell some sense into them but honestly? that's about everythin......more

Goodreads review by Carlos on April 13, 2019

Loved the characters and the ending will have you pulling at your heartstrings and feeling sorry and miserable about one of the characters. The book went both too fast and too slow at the same time and those speeds never really reached an equilibrium.......more

Goodreads review by Sara on November 26, 2018

I thought I was ready for this but I was wrong. My feelings are destroyed. I need a hug. ------------ Full review can be found here: [URL not allowed] I have been struggling with what to write for this book as it is important. I’m still not ok. Short recap: Luke and Toby are two bes......more

Goodreads review by Trista on January 22, 2018

I knew this would be a hard read going into it but that still didn't prepare me for its full impact. The way the story unfolded reminded me a bit of the way This Is Us works, with the reader seeing the past and the events leading up to the present, but also getting to see the present through letters......more