Fly Back Agnes by Elizabeth Atkinson, 290 pages. Carolrhoda Book (Lerner), 2020. $18. Content: Language: PG (1 swear); Mature Content: PG; Violence: G.
BUYING ADVISORY: MS – OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
12yo Agnes has an overbearing mother who wants her to move to Kansas for the summer, but Agnes isn’t interested in a summer with her mother’s new boyfriend and young son. Agnes convinces her father (and lies to her mother) to let her move in with him while he works on his dissertation for the summer. While staying with her father, she meets some people across the bridge and tells them her name is Chloe and other lies. Agnes/Chloe’s lies continue even when she finds true friends and they share their secrets with her. As with all lies, eventually the truth comes out.
If you enjoy reading a book about a girl who lies to get what she wants, even when it hurts other people, then this is the book for you. I wanted to like Agnes, but not once does she admit that she lied. She gets caught in her lies and is quickly forgiven by everyone, like it’s no big deal. It’s hard to keep reading because her lies are so petty, at the expense of other’s real feelings. Not a great moral to the story. The secrets that her friends share include teen pregnancy and gender identity, making it a little older than elementary.
Reviewer, C. Peterson
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