The protagonist of the story, Apple is much more than a character I could relate to. A Filipino main character who migrated in the US at an early age, is currently having a mid-life crisis figuring herself out. Identically and culturally speaking, we are very much attuned. That never happened to me before. I rarely see myself and my culture get represented in any medium, I consumed. This is why, I’m terrific to have Blackbird Fly in my life. Blackbird Fly follows the story of Apple Yengko, an aspiring musician. Having moved to Louisiana from the Philippines when she was little, she always felt estranged by her Filipino roots. Her mother expects her to embrace her culture, but Apple always feels she’s inadequate to belong. In a meanwhile, her friends ditch her after learning she is part of the “Dog Log”, a list of the least attractive girls in the school. Honestly, I don’t have anything much to say about this book, aside from discrimination and the diaspora we regularly experience. So if you want to stop reading now, you should go ahead. In other words, YES, you should definitely get it. As I already lamented above, Apple has a difficult time celebrating her culture. According to our default’s standard, her mom has an accent that isn’t pleasing to the ears. She still cooks food that would be considered unappealing, and so on. That cause, an understandably embarrassment from Apple’s side. All of her friends necessarily don’t understand her culture. For the most part, they don’t want to. Most of the kids in her school subjected her to vicious taunts about her identity. Her identity is constantly ripped off from her, kids often interchange her ethnicity with others. This is not a surprising scenario. Children are just as brutal with their minority alienation as much as their parents and forefathers. Which reminds me, how do children hurtful remarks? Did they heard it from the medium they regularly consume or do they constantly hear it from their parents and adults around them? Blackbird Fly has a very special place in my heart. It makes me even more thankful to my parents, who sacrificed a great deal of things, so we could live a comfortable life.
Blackbird Fly
By Erin Entrada Kelly
| Interest Level | Reading Level | Reading A-Z | ATOS | Word Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grades 3 - 7 | Grades 3 - 5 | n/a | 4.4 | n/a |
Future rock star or friendless misfit? That’s no choice at all. In this acclaimed novel, twelve-year-old Apple grapples with being different; with friends and backstabbers; and with following her dreams. Publishers Weekly called Blackbird Fly “a true triumph,” and the Los Angeles Times Book Review said, “Apple soars like the eponymous blackbird of her favorite Beatles song.”
Apple has always felt a little different from her classmates. She and her mother moved to Louisiana from the Philippines when she was little, and her mother still cooks Filipino foods and chastises Apple for becoming “too American.” When Apple’s friends turn on her and everything about her life starts to seem weird and embarrassing, Apple turns to music. If she can just save enough to buy a guitar and learn to play, maybe she can change herself. It might be the music that saves her . . . or it might be her two new friends, who show her how special she really is. Erin Entrada Kelly deftly brings Apple’s conflicted emotions to the page in her debut novel about family, friendship, popularity, and going your own way. “A must-read for those kids cringing at their own identities.”—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.
Book Reviews (7)
Everyone knows that a good book can-and will-make you feel sad, happy, angry, etc. And this is exactly what this author did. There is a stereotypical storyline for this genre that goes something like this: Kid moves to the Americas, gets bullied, solves the bullying problem, becomes popular and happy at the end. Apple (the main character) has moved in from the Philippines, and constantly gets bullied for her looks. Her one dream: be able to play the guitar and become famous for it. Only, there's one problem. Her mom thinks that a guitar is a waste of time, and thinks that she should focus instead on her grades. Apple feels miserable for three reasons: Her friendships are falling apart, she's being called ugly, and she can't buy a guitar. But, when two unexpected friends, and music lessons for free-if she can get a guitar-Apple, might just be able to survive the year. Okay, I was a bit disappointed with the ending, because the whole book they mentioned this field trip to Georgia, and how Apple was going to play on the streets and make a living in Georgia, but in the end, we don't get to read about it. I was kind of looking forward to it, so it kind of let me down that we didn't get to read about the field trip. But all in all this book deserves five stars, and NOTHING less. My reasons for this are: Like I said before in my review, this book really made me emotional. Also, I just think that the plot was nicely woven together. I would recommend this book for ages 9+ and for people who are interested in music stories.
No joke you need to read this book like now go get it really it made me sad and happy
I decided to read this book because it looked interesting and the author is a really good author. I thought this book was really good because it talks about how she loves to play music and her mom doesn't want her to play music because it is too American.
I read this book a couple of years ago and enjoyed it!
So far, so good! The main character, Apple, is considered one of the most "ugliest" girls in her school. Born Filipino with slanted black eyes, dark skin, think long hair, I kinda look like her. She has a mom who loved stories, but didn't really like songs. And a dad with love for music but is dead. She wants to change herself completely and feels like she doesn't fit in with the Americans. I don't know how to write book reviews.. But this book is so good so far!
This is an amazing book! It's all about this girl named Apple who really wants to play guitar or become famous, but her old mom won't let her. They have already moved from Apple's birthplace, and all Apple has is an old Beatles CD with her father's name on it. This kind of sets the book in motion. Apple decides to take her dreams far from her Mom, where she can be anyone mainly at anytime; school. But Apple soon discovers that the best things in life are not always your dreams.