Harini Senthilkumar
October 3, 2017
Flying Solo Essay
On April 28th a 6th grade class has no teacher. Flying Solo by Ralph Fletcher, is a book that presents this scenario. Mr. Fabiano, their teacher, doesn't come for the day, and the substitute teacher gets sick and was unable to come. This information was missed and the class was left to run by itself. In this chaos, three children face challenges that they have to overcome.
Rachel White is a selective mute. A selective mute is a person who chooses not to speak because of a trauma. In Rachel’s case, her trauma was caused when a boy in her class named Tommy Feathers died in his sleep. Fortunately, Rachel admitted that she was finally able to forgive herself that she was being rude to Tommy. Rachel's other trauma is that her parents got divorced and her dad moved to New Mexico, and Rachel thinks that the divorce is her fault. She solves this challenge by telling herself that it wasn't her fault that her parents got divorced and that she was just expressing what she felt.
Bastian Fauvell has a lot on his plate. He is moving to Hawaii so his dog, Barkley is being quarantined. He is also a bully because he feels “the best defence is the best offence”. He gets in a fight with Rachel White when she said that Tommy looked up to him. That leaves Bastin crying about Barkley. He knows what to do in this situation but he knows that he would regret it. He goes over to Sean O’Day and gives him Bastin’s dog.He also realises that he will try to make new friends in Hawaii. He faces lots of challenges but, he faces them.
Sean O’Day is another student who has many challenges. Seans dad is an alcoholic and doesn't care of Sean. Since he is lonely, he, badly wants a dog, Luckily, Bastin, whose dog will be quarantined, gives his dog to Sean. Rachel's kindness is shown when she shares her bag of chips with Sean and then allows him to walk her home. Throughout the story, the two quickly become friends. Sean O’Day now has a friend and a dog.
Rachel, Bastin and Sean have difficult challenges that they have to face. By the end of the story, the three students begin to work on solutions for their problems. Rachel accepts what she did to Tommy and is able to move on. Rachel finally speaks. Bastin gives Sean Barkley and Sean toughens up and asks Rachel to walk home with him. Fortunately, they all solve their problems one by one.
