Publisher's Synopsis
Buckle up! Dustin Windworth is about to take you on the ride of your life! Find out what it takes to drive a thirteen-year-old mechanically gifted misfit to research, build, and launch his own lawn chair balloon cluster craft in order to carry out a secret life-or-death mission. Using his father's new smartphone for a GPS, a seventy-year-old altimeter, and sacks of rubber chickens for ballast, Dustin navigates his way through the clouds. Except for his accomplice, Morty, everyone else at his new school thinks he's just a crazy dreamer trying to fly to the mysterious girl who came to visit from his hometown. However, his family knows the real reason. Once the media get wind of the story, all kinds of opinions begin to form. Regardless, Dustin, a native Ojibwe from Canada, has to find a way to deal with more than suffocatingly thin air, cold, exposure, and storm clouds. He has to battle with a self-image ravaged by a crowd that wants him and his long hair gone. To the watching world he becomes a target of entertainment and speculation, but to those that know him and his true intentions, landing alive and completing his mission is all that matters.Inspired by the author's own childhood experiences, veteran teacher J.P. Rehbine releases this debut, coming-of-age adventure story full of tragedy and triumph, laced with down-to-earth characters, delightfully descriptive journeys, and reflective symbolism. It is packed with literary devices for students and teachers to find, real science, math, and geography, and addresses the common struggles of youth and self-acceptance. True to realistic fiction, Time To Fly is a researched STEAM/STEM novel designed to inspire and challenge readers on many levels, especially the heart.
