I love reading Catherine Ryan Hyde's wonderful, feel good about humanity novels, and this one is just as great. An unusual friendship between a 12-year-old boy, and an older, grumpy woman, which reminds him of his late grandmother, just captured my heart. The sensitivity and fulfilling each other's voids was delicately woven through this story, as well as caring for chickens, making egg deliveries, great values, nursing home relationships, and a family of a sister raising her younger siblings. Heartfelt through and through! Thank you NetGalley, the author and publisher for the early release copy. All opinions are my own.

This is a touching novel but it starts out very slowly and methodically laying the ground work for the engaging second half of the book. I had to force myself to read through the first half but found the second half captivating. I could not discern the plot in the first half but found a number of life lessons in the second half. Had I edited this book, I would have suggested cutting down the foundation laying part, the first half, and expanding the life lesson part, the second half.

The story revolved around Stewie, an eleven year old boy, meeting Marilyn, a grouchy woman who reminds Stewie of the grandmother who had recently died. They form an unusual relationship. That relationship doesn't move much in the first half of the book but blossoms into life lessons in the second half. Stewie puzzled me. Though a very nice and polite boy, he acted much younger than is age. I would have thought him on the spectrum but we are never told that. Marilyn hides a secret. We get hints as to this secret and when the truth bursts on the scene half way through the book, that's when the book became interesting to me.

There are a number of good life lessons explored in the second half of the book. Stewie has to learn that he cannot fix everyone's problem, for example. We also get good examples of what is possible when people are encouraged to see if they can get along just a little bit better. The lessons culminate at the end of the novel, an expected ending, one you just knew was coming, yet emotionally rewarding.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Dreaming of Flight by Catherine Hyde Ryan is a gentle story of a parentless boy who befriends an older woman who is showing the beginning signs of dementia. She isn't looking for a friend, but he worms his way in. He feels responsible, well, for everyone and everything. She forgot to get a pan of bacon off the stove. That's what started it and from that time a friendship grew. He was caring for her. He had a sister and a brother, and he had a grandmother, until recently. He took over his grandmother's chickens . . . no one else wanted them, and now he sells the eggs after school. That's when they met. His eggs were expensive, but they were good. Even she had to agree.

This is a story about grief, and about belonging and friendship. It's a good story about the way things used to be, and maybe, still are, somewhere. His sister thinks he needs psychiatric care because he feels so much, and takes responsibility. He thinks he's fine. So do many other people. The vet treats his chicken for nothing-she's dying of old age. Not much to be done. It made me yearn for the past, when people were no in such a hurry and took time to care for their neighbors. It touched my heart.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Dreaming of Flight by Lake Union, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #lakeunion #catherinehyderyan #dreamingofflight

This is a sweet, coming-of-age, young adult book about 11-year-old Stewie. He is a very logical, straight forward young man, and takes life very seriously.

Stewie’s parents were killed when he was a baby, and thereafter his “Gam” raised him and his sister and brother. However, Gam has recently passed away and Stewie’s sister, Stacey is doing everything she can, as a nurse, to support her two brothers and herself.

Stewie misses his Gam very much and is taking care of, and is very attached to, her chickens. He has an egg route on which he is proud to sell “fresh” eggs to the neighbors. When, one day, he comes upon a new family on his route, the elderly lady living there reminds him so much of Gam that he becomes attached to her; even though he knows it’s not really Gam.

After Stewie and “Marilyn” begin to become acquainted, the action really begins. Marilyn has a past of her own and it comes with some trouble, with which Stewie becomes involved. By the end Stewie has learned a lot about himself and about life: some things can be changed and some things just have to be accepted. But Stewie does find the love he has been so craving, and it is a very satisfying read! I highly recommend it!

I'd like to thank NetGalley, Catherine Ryan Hyde, and Lake Union Publishing for the advanced reader's copy in exchange for my unbiased review.

Dreaming of Flight, by Catherine Ryan Hyde, is (yet another) story of a young boy struggling with adversity, adults, and the injuries of life. I am astounded at the author’s ability to create so many different tales of children transitioning into adulthood. Equally amazing is her acute understanding and respect for the children and young people she creates. To be clear, these are not young adult stories…these are novels that have young people at their center but with very adult themes. Her cast of supporting characters is also diverse, and each is finely nuanced.
This compelling novel is about a boy who has lost so much in his short life that he is moved to help, care, and protect those he meets. As is often the case when reading a book by this prolific writer, I cried at the end, sorry to say goodbye to characters I had come to love.

This is the perfect book when you want a little reassurance that the world we live in has good and deserving people! Thanks so much to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read a digital ARC. It was my joy.

This is a heartwarming novel about the unlikely friendship between an eleven-year-old boy and a woman who reminds him of his recently deceased grandmother. It explores themes of grief, aging, and found family.

This was a quick, easy read for me, and I thought the friendship between Stewie and Marilyn was sweet. Marilyn's whole story was sadly very true-to-life and reminded me of my own grandmother in many ways. While I liked this book overall though, it just left me wanting more. It felt overly generic at times and could have benefitted from a bit more personality. Many of the characters were very one note and even the setting was nondescript and could have been Anywhere, USA.

Dreaming of Flight
Dreaming of Flight by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Dreaming of Flight
by Catherine Ryan Hyde (Goodreads Author)
30817744
Sandy *The world could end while I was reading and I would never notice*'s reviewMay 05, 2022 · edit
really liked it
bookshelves: 2022, 2022-netgalley-challenge, 4-star, contemporary-fiction, death-and-dying, slice-of-life

EXCERPT: 'I agreed to read it to him. And then I said we could go over it word by word and see what words he knows and what ones he doesn't.'

'Excellent!' The principal clapped her hands together, startling Marilyn. 'That could make such a difference. I feel very optimistic now.'

Clearly a great weight had been lifted off the principal's shoulders. Marilyn had lifted it away. And it had been dropped squarely onto her own.

They both stood, an agreement that the meeting was ending.

'No good deed goes unpunished,' she thought as she stepped into the outer office. Somehow it had fallen to her not only to teach the boy to read, but to heal his traumatic life. And all she had wanted was to buy a few cartons of unusually fresh eggs.

ABOUT 'DREAMING OF FLIGHT': Never knowing his parents, eleven-year-old Stewie Little and his brother have been raised on a farm by their older sister. Stewie steadfastly tends the chickens left by his beloved late grandmother. And every day Stewie goes door to door selling fresh eggs from his wagon—a routine with a surprise just around the corner. It’s his new customer, Marilyn. She’s prickly and guarded, yet comfortably familiar—she reminds the grieving Stewie so much of the grandmother he misses more than he can express.

Marilyn has a reason for keeping her distance: a secret no one knows about. Her survival tactic is to draw a line between herself and other people—one that Stewie is determined to cross. As their visits become more frequent, a complicated but deeply rooted relationship grows. That’s when Stewie discovers how much more there is to Marilyn, to her past, and to challenges that become more pressing each day. But whatever difficult times lie ahead, Stewie learns that although he can’t fix everything for Marilyn or himself, at least he’s no longer alone.

MY THOUGHTS: A sweet and touching story that has almost a timeless feel to it. Dreaming of Flight is a gentle tale that moves along at a slow pace (and that's not a criticism), one that focuses on feelings rather than technology and action.

Stewie is an odd but loveable boy. He is grieving the loss of his beloved 'Gam', who raised him from a baby along with his older brother and sister following the death of his parents in an accident. He struggles with school and his only friends are his late grandmother's hens, all of whom have names and distinct personalities.

Marilyn is an irascible older woman who cares for the daughter of a single mother in return for free room and board. Prickly and remote, she doesn't have a filter on her mouth and whatever she is thinking tends to pop out. She reminds Stewie of his Gam, who wasn't always the nicest
woman, and this keeps drawing him back to her.

The two form a wary friendship. But over time the bonds strengthen and deepen.

Dreaming of Flight is a quick and easy read. The relationship between the characters is complex, but is written about in a simple way. I enjoyed both the characters of Stewie and Marilyn and thought that CRHs depiction of them was perfectly drawn.

While I really enjoyed this book for myself, it could certainly also be used for tweens dealing with the death of a loved one

⭐⭐⭐⭐

#DreamingofFlight #NetGalley

I: @catherineryanhyde @amazonpublishing

T: @cryanhyde @AmazonPub

#contemporaryfiction #deathanddying #sliceoflife

THE AUTHOR: I am the author of more than 30 published and forthcoming books. I'm an avid hiker, traveler, equestrian, and amateur photographer.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Lake Union Publishing via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of Dreaming of Flight by Catherine Ryan-Hyde for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinion.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

Dreaming of Flight by Catherine Ryan Hyde is a very nice story dealing about grief. I think it is probably the cutest story I have ever read dealing with grief. I love the approach in the story.

Catherine Ryan Hyde is a prolific writer, known for feel good stories with a message. I read 4 other books by her before this one, two of which were 3 stars and the other two were 4 stars. I don’t always rush to read a new one by her because sometimes they are a little too sappy and a little too predictable for my tastes, but when I need a feel good, heartwarming story or a story of people who need each other and connect in beautiful ways, a CRH book is the place to go.

Eleven year old Stewie Little cares too much . He cares about his hens and that he delivers fresh eggs to his customers, about his older brother Theo who is disabled, about his Gam who has passed away. He wants to solve every problem of everyone close to him. All of which make the reader care about this thoughtful, grieving boy who holds a secret. He comes to care about Marilyn, whom he meets when delivering eggs. She reminds him of his Gam and as their relationship grows, we learn that she also has a secret. The book description tells you more than I will about the plot.

I’ll just say that the novel did not disappoint. I’m almost always partial to books from the point of view of young narrators who are wiser at times than adults and pretty much always steal my heart. Stewie definitely stole my heart in his part of the narrative as did Marilyn. Two lost, lonely people connecting with one another, especially at a time when they most needed each other made me cry multiple times, but at times the tears were not only for sadness. While it was predictable and yes a little sappy, I’m giving it 4 stars because it was the right book at the right time for me.

I received a copy of this book from Lake Union Publishing through NetGalley

Stewart Little is eleven years old, he lives with his older sister Stacey and brother Theo. Stewie’s parents died in a motorcycle crash when he was a baby, his Gam raised her three grandchildren on her farm near Lake View and she passed away a year ago. Stewie looks after his grandmothers hens, he collects the eggs and sells them fresh to his local customer’s every day. Stewie is silently grieving for his Gam, his way of coping is to care for her flock of chickens and he gives Stacey a percentage of his egg money.

One day he notices a run-down house, he has some eggs left and he knocks on the door. Marilyn a grumpy older lady buys a carton of eggs, she reminds Stewie of his grandmother and he’s not put off by her attitude. Marilyn has a reason for her being distant and rude, she’s in hiding and her memory isn’t as sharp as it used to be.

Marilyn discovers Stewie has a secret of his own, she offers to help him and they become friends. When Marilyn’s past catches up with her, Stewie is determined to help his friend and he does. Stewie visits Marilyn, he brings her eggs, he meets the other residents at Eastbridge and it does wonders for his confidence.

I received a copy of Dreaming of Flight from NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for an honest review. A coming of age story about friendship, love, loss, aging, the cycle of life and ways of dealing with grief. Stewie has the kindest heart, sweetest spirit, I wanted to give him a big hug and be his friend. Catherine Ryan Hyde has a brilliant way of writing, I cared about the characters in her stories and I feel close to them and and five stars from me.

I really enjoyed this book. I became vested in the characters, especially Stewie and Marilyn. It was a sweet, moving story. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book. I recommend it, and will read more of this author.

Dreaming of Flight is a very sweet story. The main character, Stewie, is just precious. He has had some hard times for such a young child but continues to see the best in others. He lives with his special needs brother and his sister.
All in all, a very tender, heart touching story.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

A grand story of eggs and chickens

Catherine Ryan Hyde is a master storyteller and I have found it really doesn't matter what she tells her stories about. In this case it's a young boy, eggs, and chickens - and a woman that tries very hard (unsuccessfully) not to be involved in his young life.

Stewie Little is 11 years old, lives with his older sister and brother since his parents died when he was very young, and raises his beloved late grandmother's chickens.

One day as he's selling eggs door to door, he meets an irascible older woman who reminds him of his late grandmother and develops a relationship with this woman that changes his life.

I loved the characters, the storyline, and this author's work, as always. I highly recommend DREAMING OF FLIGHT.

I received this book from Lake Union Publishing through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Catherine Ryan Hyde for allowing me to read the ARC of Dreaming of Flight.
Whenever I pick up a Catherine Ryan Hyde book, I know I am going to meet some interesting, unforgettable characters and beloved animals! This book did not disappoint me, as from the beginning of the story, when we meet eleven-year-old Stewie as he pulls his wagon around town selling his eggs, we can see we have met a very special boy. Having lost their parents, Stewie and his disabled brother live on their family farm with their older sister, who has provided them with a loving home and good education. Stewie’s life changes forever the day he meets reclusive neighbor, Marilyn, and realizes she has secrets that she may need to share in order to have a better life. You won’t want this book to end. Maybe you will even take time to get to know other people better and learn from them.

Books written by Catherine Ryan Hyde are all incredibly introspective and thought-provoking, and always invoke deep emotion within me. I haven’t read a book written by her that I haven’t loved, and each one has stayed with me for a long, long time, just like this one will. This author has a way of creating characters that I am drawn to and feel connected to, and ones that I want to read about and get to know better, such as Stewie and Marilyn. Watching their relationship grow was so beautiful, and the love that formed between them was incredible. The more time spent together, the more they helped one another heal and move past the effects of their past and current circumstances. The dialogue between them is so deep, so ruminating, so reflective. What they say to each other isn’t so much as the words actually spoken, but goes deeper than that to what is unspoken but yet so loud. Their quirky personalities and traits make the forming friendship between the two a little more rocky, but yet is what makes that bond even stronger once it’s it built. They help each other through troubled times, ultimately leading to lessons learned and stronger love between family and friends.

I absolutely loved this book so much and highly recommend that everyone read it.

#dreamingofflight

I have loved every book that I've read so far from Catherine Ryan Hyde, and this one did not disappoint. Her characters always touch my heart. Eleven-year old Stewie has never known typical family life having lost both parents while still a baby and more recently his beloved Gam. He is a sensitive young boy who always feels responsible for everyone else's well-being and feelings. When he gets to know one of his egg customers who reminds him of Gam, the author once again proves that family does not always require a blood relationship. Thanks so much to NetGalley, the author and Lake Union Publishing for the advance copy to read and review.

This is one of my favorite reads this year!

Stewie Little has a big heart for an eleven-year-old boy. After losing his parents as a baby and now his grandmother, he and his brother are left to be raised by their older sister. All he has left of his grandmother are her chickens, and he tends to them with the utmost care. He also goes door to door selling their fresh eggs, but one day he visits a house he’s never been to before. There he meets Marilyn, a gruff and guarded woman who ironically reminds him of his grandmother. She has good reason to keep her distance from others, but she can’t help but be drawn to the sweet young boy and he to her.

One thing I absolutely adored about this book was the relationship between Stewie and Marilyn. Stewie is such a sweetheart and while he doesn’t always pick up on the meaning behind certain things, Marilyn is patient and takes the time to explain things to him. Stewie in turn helps Marilyn as she has become more forgetful with age. He looks past her prickly demeanor (something he is familiar with), and allows her to fill a void that was left behind by his deceased grandmother.

As the story progressed, I couldn’t help but be overcome with emotion. Here we have two individuals who might have been overlooked because they were different or struggled in a way that isn’t always understood by others. But they took a chance on one another and the relationship that bloomed was so beautiful.

Highly recommend this book (as well as anything by Catherine Ryan Hyde)!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4700872330

I love a Catherine Ryan Hyde book. I love little boys. Combine the two and you have a winner for me! Stewie is a very sensitive boy. He feels things deeply. When he meets and older woman who reminds him of his Gam, it's like he has found his person. Marilyn has her own endearing qualities and the two combine to make quite a team.

This novel follows the unlikely relationship between neighbors with wisdom, laughter and compassion. The characters, Stewie and Marilyn, are so well developed you’ll picture them in your own neighborhood. Dreaming of Flight is a heartwarming story that doesn’t focus on romance or patriarchal relationships but instead allows you to see what truly brings people together when differences are put aside and caring for others takes over.
I enjoyed this book. Though not my favorite of Catherine Ryan Hyde’s novels it had many of the same elements that make her stories shine.

Thank you to Netgalley, Catherine Ryan Hyde and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC

Heartwarming is the word that kept coming to mind while I was reading Dreaming of Flight by Catherine Ryan Hyde. I loved this book. It didn’t give me all the warm fuzzies like some books do, it just made my heart warm. Stewie was a boy that reminded me a little of myself and I totally understood all that he was facing and just wanted to wrap him in my arms and give him a big hug.

Stewie lost his parents when he was a baby and he doesn’t have any memories of them. His grandmother died just before the book started. He has had a lot of loss in his young life. I love Stewie because he values family even though he never had a large family. Now, his older sister takes care of him and his older brother. Stewie is just 11 years old when the book starts. He is a character I can identify with. I didn’t lose my parents but, I didn’t have siblings and we didn’t live near family. I was always a bit jealous when kids came to school and spoke of family gatherings. I wanted that.

I usually don’t read reviews before I read a book and write my own review. I happened to see a review online about this book and that reviewer said the book was too YA for her. I’m glad that I put that out of my mind and read the book with an open heart. There were many older characters in this book although, it was told through the eyes of Stewie. I loved his values. He didn’t tell lies and he always tried to do what he said he would. 

The heart of this book is opening our own heart to someone who is different from us, older than us and seeing what opportunities that are right in front of us to make our lives better and other peoples lives at the same time. There are a lot of lessons to be learned in Dreaming of Flight.