Turn your back to change your view.

I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast
a stone across the waters to create many ripples. - Mother Teresa

Happy 18th Birthday
now worry begins- welcome to danger zone.
She now has a life sentence.
18-30 years old schizophrenia symptoms manifest
So now she starts her 12-yr plan- no drugs, alcohol, boyfriends, or stress.
Everything is on the line.
She goes to Zoo for interview and gets to witness an elephant calf's birth.
Then as she is sent to report a story for the newspaper, she becomes a part of the story.
Mother elephant's motherly instinct has not kicked in.
Now she struggles with her father, her flashbacks to her mother trying to kill her, her best friend,
and her impending insanity.
She travels to circus with baby elephant and another adventure begins.

I recommend this book, it was an adventure that I could not stop reading until I finished,
reading it all in a day.

Crazy is genetic. It's the house I was born inside. There are no windows, just two locked doors. One door leads to normal, the other to insanity. At some point I will inherit a key, but I don't get to pick which door it unlocks.

Dickens could learn a few things from Nancy Richardson Fischer because if that is not a gripping opening then I don't know what is. AND THIS IS A YA NOVEL.

Lily, our protagonist, feels like she is a ticking time bomb. She has two years until her chances of having the same mental illness as her mother decreases dramatically and she believe she will be in the clear.

What I love that the author does is she doesn't gloss over the unpleasant thoughts and feelings that Lily has, she doesn't use fluff to make Lily feel more at peace about her place in life or use Lily as a means to make readers feel optimist about mental health conditions. Instead, she offers up a sometimes unpleasant narrative that tugs on heartstrings and leaves readers in tears.

Trigger warnings if you do not like to read about animal abuse.

Full review on Goodreads. I enjoyed and rooted (and booed) the characters in this book. I would think that is an author's goal, so well done.

This is a beautifully written story about a young girl name T. Lillian Decker (Lily) who is on the verge of major life changes. Lily has spent her life worried about reaching the age she may start to see the signs of paranoid schizophrenia, something most of the women in her family have suffered from. She lives with her father and spends time with her best friend (who is facing his own difficult life choices), living a careful and controlled life, until a chance visit to the zoo and the birth of a baby elephant changes all of that. When Swift Jones is born, Lily is there for her internship and writes a story about it. Because of the public interest, she returns and finds herself in a eerily similar situation to the one she once faced when her own mother tried to kill her. Lily writes another article which become the catalyst for change in her life as the article draws attention to a side of animal behavior that isn't always discussed. Through the course of this novel Lily is forced to make choices and decided if she can in fact trust herself as she worries about being overcome by her past. She meets a cast of interesting characters and as she travels with Swifty to a new home, she realizes that not all things are as they seem. This novel really touched my heart because of the way the author introduced such a strong protagonist who was facing so many challenges that are all mirrored in Swift Jones and the survival of this young elephant. Thank you netgalley for this chance to read such a interesting story in exchange for my honest opinion.

When Elephants Fly opens the doors to discussing mental health and the genetic factors associated with the various forms. While there are moments the characters' arch doesn't feel as developed and the digital formatting can be distracting, the over all story arc is well done. I would recommend Ms. Fischer's novel.
I received and advance reader's copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"The only promise with schizophrenia is that there's both hope and despair."

T. Lily Decker is an 18 year old girl living with a fear that I can't even begin to relate to - the fear that she, like most other women in many generations on her mothers side of the family, will develop schizophrenia. Instead of blowing out candles and celebrating her birthday party with friends, she spends her day soaking in the reality that she is now in the 12 year window where mental illnesses are most likely to rear their evil little heads. She is knows that hormones, genetics, stress, etc. can trigger the disease, so she is determined to live the next 12 years in a self created bubble that will keep her safe from the voices that may be living in her head.

Little does she know that her unpaid internship at a local newspaper is about to push her outside of her comfort zone and safe bubble. She comes up with the idea to hold a contest where people pay to name the new elephant calf at a nearby zoo, and from there, is catapulted into a beautiful journey of life and death, hope and despair, and learning how to cope with what she believes in impending doom.

While I can't relate to her specific problem, I can relate to her fear. The fear that you may lose yourself. The fear that your whole life can be turned upside down by something you cannot control. The feeling that you may wake up one day and never be yourself again. I think most everyone can relate to that fear, and Nancy Richardson Fischer's poetically crafted characters and tumultuous story kept me on edge until the very end of the book.

"When Elephants Fly" does not shy away from the reality that mental health is a very real, very prevalent issue in this day and age. It addresses head on what it is like to live in the mind of someone who is sick and what it is like to live with someone who is sick. This is a book that all high school students and beyond need to read to start to develop some empathy toward people who need it most. Start the conversation, and read the book.

*I was provided a free advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.*

What an incredible story! I chose this book simply to change up my reading shelf and I couldn't be more impressed. This story grabs your interest right from the start. It delved into so many important topics such as mental illness, animal rights, loyalty, and courage. You will find yourself as if you, yourself are a character in the story, ready to jump in and and fight for Swifty! Truly a beautiful story that will definitely tug at your heartstrings.

I chose this book from the title, since I adore elephants, and I’m so glad I did. When elephants fly deals with a few different major hot topics, but mental health is the issue in the forefront. The main character, Lily, has just turned 18 and is living life fearful that she will end up with schizophrenia, like her mom. She is doing an intern as a journalist and has the opportunity to do a piece on an elephant at the local zoo that is about to have a calf. The two story lines connect and there is a whole lot more that happens, so many great characters. And elephants, a baby elephant and a dog for a best friend. I highly recommend When Elephants Fly by Nancy Richardson Fischer.
I received this early release from NetGalley for an honest review.

(Link below for JennaBookish will be live on August 10th, 2018, 10:00 AM EST)

As a person with an education background in psychology, I had some misgivings about the subject matter of this novel going into it. Lily's schizophrenic mother tried to kill her when she was a young girl. Lily struggles to deal with that trauma and also the looming threat of developing the disorder herself, given the genetic component. Schizophrenia is a such a highly stigmatized illness, and a novel with a schizophrenic character committing such a dramatic act of violence at the center of the story is concerning. While delusions in thought can cause a person with schizophrenia to become violent, most people living with this disorder are not violent and are at far greater risk of harming themselves than they are anyone else. So while Lily's story is certainly not out of the realm of possibility in the real world, these are important things to keep in mind when reading a story like this. 

That being said, I do think that Fischer made efforts to treat the subject matter with sensitivity. She has used Lily's concerns about developing the disorder as a means to relay information to the reader; Lily has researched this topic tirelessly as a means of maintaining a sense of control over her life and mental health, and is aware, for example, of the risk of suicide for patients dealing with this disorder. Lily is a very sympathetic protagonist who is acutely aware of her risk of developing this disorder; she also gives the reader a window into what it feels like to be unfairly dismissed based on their mental health status.

Certain characters look down on Lily based on the mere possibility that she may have inherited her mother's illness; should this possibility prove to be true, the contempt would be that much worse. Any and all of Lily's opinions can be dismissed based on the speculated status of her mental health. For an insecure and yet passionate young woman just emerging into adulthood, this is excruciating. 

And then there's Swifty. I got so emotionally invested in this baby elephant; Lily's connection with Swifty is palpable, and my heart broke for both of them as Swifty struggled after being rejected by her mother. Many of the passages about Swifty are very well written, but some of them showcase the novel's main weakness, in my opinion. It's very clear that Fischer wanted this novel to educate, and that's admirable.

However, with a 400 page book dealing with intricate subjects such as mental health, adolescence, parenting, and animal rights, the information may not always be weaved seamlessly into the story. Certain passages felt forced and awkward. It sometimes felt like the author's own research was pasted into the story without regard to the overall flow of the novel; it had the effect of pulling the reader momentarily out of the story. 

Overall, this was a strong novel. It was well-paced with a well-developed and sympathetic protagonist. The story was interesting and multi-faceted. It brought us a character who, despite her overwhelming anxiety about her mental health, is more than her mental health status. Lily has people who love her deeply and a cause she's willing to fight for.

There were two main focuses of this book. One is Lily's fear that she will eventually show signs of having schizophrenia like her mother and other relatives in her family tree.  The second focus is the plight of a baby elephant, Swifty, whose mother rejected her.  Swifty and Lily's lives become intertwined when Lily decides to help Swifty.  There were some short, disturbing scenes of elephant abuse and readers are forced to learn the positive and negative sides of zoos and circuses.  I did like Lily's character growth through out the book.  She went from a self-absorbed teen focused on her future to a teen risking her future to help out a helpless baby elephant.

Wonderful read!!! When Elephants Fly was a heartwarming story about mental illness, the importance of fighting for what you believe in, and never giving up hope.

It follows T. Lily Decker, who has spent her life fearing developing schizophrenia. Due to her family history, it is very, very likely she will develop some form of schizophrenia. Lily's mother who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, tried to kill her when she was 7 years old by throwing her off a rooftop. Ever since then she's done her best to avoid anything that is a risk of triggering schizophrenia. Things like stress, drugs, alcohol, and boyfriends. 

When Lily's newspaper internship brings her to the zoo, where she watches an elephant try to kill her 3-week old calf she can't just turn her back and walk away. Soon she learns that the calf, Swifty, is dying from grief. Lily is faced with a  life-changing decision. Risk everything, including her sanity, in order to save Swifty. 

Fischer captures what it is like to fight for your sanity and the fear of losing yourself and no longer living as you due to mental illness. Lily decides to fight for what she believes in and not let her fear of developing schizophrenia stop her from living her life. It's how you live your life that matters and when you stop taking risks you stop living life.

When I first read the synopsis I wasn't sure the elephant aspect of the story was going to interest me, but trust me it was great! I just had to find out what was going to happen to Swifty. The only complaint I have about this book was the love interest. It pretty much added nothing to the story, the two characters would have been better as friends in my opinion. Everything could have played out exactly the same way if the two weren't romantically involved. But nevertheless, I definitely recommend reading this book when it comes out! Its released on September 4th, so not for a while, but definitely add this to your tbr! 

4/5 stars :)

This was such an interesting idea - I have to say that while I've seen books try to tackle mental illness before, it's never been quite like this. Lily's mother tried to kill her when she was very small, and Lily has therefore instituted her own 12-year plan to ensure that she can keep the symptoms away as long as possible, just in case it has hit her. When she gets an internship at the local zoo and discovers that the mother elephant of a new calf has tried to kill it, Lily feels an instant connection. But she'll have to abandon some of her process to do so, and really grow in some new ways. I inhaled Lily's story in just one night - it is thought-provoking and incredibly unique.

Lily Decker has been through more in her life than most have their entire life. You can't help but feel for her and love her.

Her 12 year plan to avoid becoming like her schizophrenic mother is awe inspiring. She will run 3 miles a day, everyday! She will meditate and avoid any situation that seems remotely stressful!

If you can be as logical as Lily after her mother threw her off a building, nearly killed her...when she was 11...then you are a hero, can do anything.

But all those bad memories flood back when Lily becomes a journalist at a newspaper and goes to the zoo. She watches a mother elephant attempt to kill her her 3-week-old calf.

And it throws her life balance off into extreme chaos. Will she become more like her mother, do something drastic? Or will she just find a way to protect Swifty and stay rational, keep her head above water?

Find out in this moving story that will leave you in tears...

Before I get into my review I feel like I need to say that If you are dealing with mental illness, there is always someone that you can talk too. You Are Not Alone.
The mental health aspect of this for me was interesting because Lucy was trying to connect with Swifty. The way that the author intertwined the mental health aspect of the story was really fascinating. It kept me reading.
Lily has a 12 year plan its consisted of running 3 miles everyday, meditating, an avoid stressful situations. She is doing all of this because she doesn’t want to become like her schizophrenic mother. Whom happened to kill her when she was 11.
Lily then gets a job at the newspaper and that takes her to the zoo. As she’s there she see’s this mother elephant attempting to kill her 3-week-old calf. I wish that Lily and Swifty were able to have more development then what they did have.
Over all, I did enjoy this book. If you like to read books about mental illness or the description peak your interest then I suggest that you pick this one up.

A heartwarming coming-of-age tale about mental illness, tolerance, and the beautiful bonds that can form between animal and human. WHEN ELEPHANTS FLY at its heart is about the importance of fighting for what you believe in, living in the moment, and never giving up hope.

Lily Decker has spent most of her life fearing the day she becomes her schizophrenic mother. The same schizophrenic mother who attempted to kill her by throwing her off an apartment building when she was 11-years-old.

Because schizophrenia is largely genetic and is deeply ingrained in her family's lineage, Lily lives her life by a specific code of conduct. It's what she refers to as "the 12-year Plan". The code consists of living her life by logic rather than emotion and adhering to clean living to avoid the well-known contributing factors of schizophrenia -- stress, a lack of sleep, hormonal changes, physical, emotional or sexual abuse, alcohol, and drugs. She runs three miles everyday, meditates, and avoids parties and high-stress situations. There's just one problem with Lily's "12-year Plan". It's BORING.

Lily is nothing, if not apathetic. That is, until an internship at the local newspaper brings her to the zoo, where she watches an elephant attempt to kill her three-week-old calf, Swifty. Lily cannot bear to turn her back on the story or the baby calf, but she knows she'll have to abandon her safe plans in order to help. After learning Swifty is dying from grief, Lily is faced with a life-changing decision that could break not only her sanity, but also her heart. Life may not be a fairy tale, but there are many different forms of happily-ever-after.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!

*A big thanks to both Netgalley and the publisher for granting me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book. The thoughts expressed in this review are my own personal opinions and have been written in my own words.

A really beautiful book. When Elephants Fly will lead readers to rethink animal treatment as well as the secret struggles of those around us.

I'm not sure what it should be but the blurb for the book needs to be better. When I read it, I was not inspired to read the novel, but when I read the portion excerpted in the YA Books Buzz I was hooked.

Never have I ever felt such an overwhelming desire to cry. Unfortunately, I think my tear ducts are fresh out of tears.

When Elephants Fly is one of the best books I've read in a long time. From the moment I glanced at the title through the newest YA Buzzbooks, I knew that I absolutely had to read this work; I'm so thankful that I did.

The plot was absolutely breathtaking! Though certain character arcs leaned fairly heavily toward the predictable end of things, I loved it in its entirety. In general, the originality is what gives this book so much of its charm.

One of my only complaints is that I wish certain sections of Lily and Swifty's story could've been further developed, as it felt sort of unbalanced in terms of pacing. Specifically, some of the longer sections, like those not necessarily as crucial to the plot(e.g. circus exploring), felt like they could've been touched upon more briefly and replaced with more detail for the ending.

As for the mental illness theme, it was really als;dkjfal;sjfd for me when our beloved MC was drawing parallels between her life and Swifty's, but I guess that was her way of connecting with the elephant? I honestly don't know all too much about schizophrenia, but Fischer's implementation of symptoms and the method in which the disorder manifested in Lily were fascinating for me to read. While I can't say much about the accuracy of her representation, it felt incredibly real to me.

Character-wise, I don't really have all that much to say. If anything, it felt like everyone could've had more developed development, if that makes any sense. With the dynamic nature of the plot occupying a lot of the book, it's not too hard to look past. I'm not complaining, but I'd really love to see more from our MCs and even the less prominent characters.

Anywayyy, I love love loved reading When Elephants Fly, and I definitely recommend it to everyone! Thousand thank yous to Harlequin Teen and Netgalley for providing such a wonderful ARC :)))

So the jist of this book is that it’s about acceptance, love, forgiveness and some small portion of mental health. This book is not what is expected, which sometimes can be a good thing and is pleasantly surprising. I didn’t find that I was severely disappointed by this but I wasn’t thrilled and it didn’t really enhance my opinion of the book as a whole because of it. I just feel the same as I did when I first started the book, meh, with a few warm feelings. I am not incredibly thrilled with the mental health representation this book brings to the table, as most novels with schizophrenia as a plot point establish it as bad or evil, I feel this point only adds to stigma and doesn’t actually do much to educate on the subject. While this book does a good job of providing several points of view about this particular mental illness, I don’t think the entire plot of Lily being terrified of getting the illness is a necessarily helpful to those who have it and are grateful to see de-stigmatization regarding the way it’s portrayed as bad and evil. But I will also give credit to the character development throughout the story, and also the development of Lilly’s feelings towards the illness this aspect is certainly redeemable.
The first portion of the book is developmental, character introduction, situation building, that sort of thing. Although it wasn’t overly boring, I felt that it took a long time for anything remotely interesting in the story to occur. So I think the pacing was good, I just think that the story itself could have just moved along a bit faster than it did.
I really enjoyed two characters, Lily and Sawyer, and that’s pretty much it. Other characters? Meh. Aside from Swift Jones of course, I got really invested in that baby elephant. The book did a great job of establishing the bond between Swifty and Lily, and made me as a reader concerned about her well-being and invested in her story. But I didn’t feel the side characters were very flushed out as well as they could have been, and could have made me care a little bit more about them. I didn’t really care for the dynamic between Lily and Otis, I think the story very well could have done without it, to me it just sort of felt forced, even at the beginning when it was being hinted at, I was hoping that it would turn out to be nothing, because even from that far back it just seemed so incredibly forced and a concept I didn’t really want to see explored.
This book also calls attention to the morally gray areas of wild animal care, and the horrific conditions animals are kept in at the circus. I wish that there had been some warning as to the nature of this book and what I would have to read through as I prefer to skip through animal abuse in books, but I am glad to see this book raise awareness of such treatment of animals.
I however did not enjoy that the ultimate fate of all these characters is left open ended at the end of the story. In some cases this can add to the plot and be beneficial to the story as a whole, but here it just feels like the story was cut off awkwardly, and what this story really needed was some resolution. What happens with Lily and her friendship with Sawyer, her and Otis, Swift Jones? We don’t know, and I found this frustrating. I feel that this entire novel was one big build up and then the ending resulted in this falling absolutely flat with no resolution or conclusion to be seen.
The book’s title is very true to the story, and I was happy to see so many different issues addressed in the book.

Journalism, animal rights, and mental health issues. The three strands weave together beautifully and, yeah, I say inspirationally. It has love and betrayal and elephants. Baby elephants. The ethics of choice and the limitations of mental illness are presented in a way that is fresh and approachable.

*I received an ARC of the novel by the publisher through Netgalley but all opinions are 100% my own*

Possibly some spoilers in this review, but I tried very hard to keep them minimal and unimportant.

I loved pretty much every minute of this book and I’m going to break up everything into sections so you can get a clear picture of this beautiful narrative that Nancy Richardson Fischer has written.

SETTING

Oregon- mostly the zoo and then a circus in Florida and the transition worked very well. I also loved getting to know what the Decker household looked like before Violet was removed from it. (I’m trying to be as spoiler-free as possible, but I don’t think I can accurately describe why I love this book without spoiling some of it.)

PLOT

The novel begins centered around T. Lily Decker but it grows to be something much larger than that. It grows into a larger narrative about mental illness (specifically schizophrenia) and wildlife preservation. (I know they seem unconnected, but Fischer works her magic, and connects them seemlessly.

Sawyer and Otis both get little subplots of their own which were interesting and helped to create a whole cast of characters with so much depth.

I also feel that from what I know of mental illness, that Fischer did her homework. Nothing about the mental illness described in the novel feels over-the-top or dramatized for the sake of the novel. It feels so real and that is the ultimate goal of the author.

CHARACTERS

T. Lily Decker- She’s amazing and I love her. Throughout the novel she overcomes so much and her parallel relationship with Swift Jones is simultaneously heartbreaking and beautiful all at the same time. Her personality grows throughout the novel and you can start to hear her sass and persistence through the narration and I loved that about her and the book.

Calvin- I struggled with her father, whether he was doing the right thing for Lily because (in the eyes of Lily, our narrator) he was not. But, I couldn’t outright hate him. I believe he loves Lily and was trying to find his way, albeit it may have not been the right path.

Sawyer- His subplot allowed for another parallel to Lily and he was a complex characters who did more than further the goals of the protagonist.

Otis- Oh Otis, our beautiful, elephant riding love interest. He was another complex character who fit right into the narrative with the pushing and pulling with Lily to create moral and then romantic tension.

Howard- Overall terrible person from what we get to see of him. I thought he might be alright but honestly, I couldn’t stand him. Even though to a point I pity him.

Overall, I loved this book and I think everyone who has any sort of opinion on mental health or wildlife preservation or even just likes Peter Pan references will enjoy this book.