Whirligig, Paul Fleischman
Whirligig, Paul Fleischman
4 Rating(s)
List: $14.95 | Sale: $10.47
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Whirligig

Author: Paul Fleischman

Narrator: Robert Field, Lily Christian, various narrators

Unabridged: 3 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/01/2011

Synopsis

New to town, Brent Bishop longs to stroll around school with the popular Brianna on his arm. But when Brianna begs him at a party full of schoolmates to stop hounding her, Brent’s hopes are shattered. Trying to escape his humiliation, he attempts to destroy himself in a car crash—and ends up killing Lea, an innocent teen unfortunate enough to cross his path. Lea’s mother asks one thing of Brent: that he create four whirligigs from a picture of Lea and set them up at the four corners of the United States. Lea’s mother believes that by spreading the joy that whirligigs gave Lea as a child, Brent will keep Lea’s spirit alive. And so Brent goes off with an unlimited bus ticket and the tools he needs to memorialize Lea. On his journey, he rediscovers his own love of life, and he begins to realize how—like the pieces that form the intricate whirligigs—people come together to affect each other in surprising ways.

About Paul Fleischman

Paul Fleischman grew up in Santa Monica, California, in a house with a printing press, a grand piano, a shortwave radio, and his father—children’s author Sid Fleischman. Playing recorder in early music consorts led to his books of verbal duets: I Am Phoenix, Joyful Noise (winner of the 1989 Newbery Medal), and Big Talk. His novels built from monologues include Bull Run, a sixteen-character account of the Civil War’s first battle, and Seedfolks, the chronicle of the first year of a Cleveland community garden. His interest in theater inspired his young adult novels Mind’s Eye, Seek, and Breakout, all of which revolve around the spoken word. His historical fiction includes Saturnalia and The Borning Room. He’s written nonfiction and picture books as well, including Time Train, Weslandia, and Sidewalk Circus. Alongside the Newbery Medal, he’s won a Newbery Honor Book, the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, the PEN West Literary Award, the California Young Reader Medal, and most recently was a finalist for the 2003 National Book Award.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Petergiaquinta on July 03, 2013

This is the framework of a great little story with a lot of potential, but it's too bad the author didn't flesh it out more. I read it in two sittings, and I'm a slow reader, so there just isn't enough detail or development to bring the book to life in the way it deserves. Nonetheless, it is a fine s......more

Goodreads review by William on December 11, 2019

The book Whirligig by Paul Fleischman reminded me of the book Restart by Gordan Korman. Both of these books tell a story of someone who loses their memory and wishes to change their past. Although Whirligig was very different from what I like to read in my spare time, I enjoyed the book immensely be......more

Goodreads review by Jacqueline on March 24, 2008

This book is a great example of how our actions effect other people, especially those we never meet. It starts with Brent killing Lea, the first in a series of actions that effect others. As Brent travels and builds the whirligigs in Lea's memory he grows and changes. Part of the reason the book is s......more

Goodreads review by Anthony on March 24, 2014

Since the book was required to read, and we were constantly doing assignments on it, my ability to enjoy the book was somewhat impaired. However, I did still find it fairly interesting. I felt that it was a little harder for me personally to relate to the main character since he was in high school,......more

Goodreads review by Chloe on April 20, 2015

Whirligig? More like NO. STOP. WHY. (I should have a review up about this book sometime soon ish aka three months later)......more

Quotes

“Complex and rewarding, this is a stellar addition to a consummate writer’s body of work.”

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The story as a whole and the inner sense of self that Brent achieves through his experiences are mesmerizing. The language of the whirligig stories gleams and soars: a metaphor of movement, dance, laughter, and irrepressible life.”

Booklist

“Though Whirligig has linear movement, it impresses readers more with its sense of interconnected spiraling…There is enormous vitality and hopefulness expressed in this brief masterwork.”

School Library Journal

“This is a cathartic story of redemption. Brent, filled with self-doubt, guilt, and a host of worries, is a character today’s adolescents will recognize and agonize with. Fleischman’s writing is filled with beautiful imagery, no more so than in the twirling arms of his whirligigs that remind readers that sustaining the human spirit in an imperfect world requires reaching out to others.”

VOYA

“In an intricately structured novel, Fleischman skillfully connects the stories of several people to the evolution of his main character…Brent’s journey is an embracing and an edifying one.”

Horn Book

Awards

  • New York Times Notable Book
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