Flying Lessons & Other Stories Edited by Ellen Oh

• Genre: Short Stories 
• Grade Level: 5th - 8th
• Reading Level: 5.0
• Length: 240 pages 
• Publisher: Crown Books  (January 3, 2017)
• My Rating: 3 out of 4
• Division 2

This is a collection of short stories that have been collected by Ellen Oh who is the cofounder of We Need Diverse Books.  There are ten stories written by a variety of authors.  Most of the stories are geared more for the middle school age student. Topics include basketball, bigfoot, pirates, crushes, friendship, and family.

My favorites:

The Difficult Path by Grace Lin:  Lingsi is sold to a family because her own family cannot afford her. Her mother asks that the Li family educate her when she turns 6 years old. As Lingsi grows up it seems she may have to wed the despised son, but on a trip to the city she and other servants are captured by pirates where Lingsi finds a better life for herself.

Seventy-Six Dollars and Forty-Nine Cents by Kwame Alexander:  Written in free verse, Monk is crushing on a girl in his school and after hitting his head is able to read minds. He uses this skill to get a date with her.

Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push by Walter Dean Myers:  Chris is in a wheelchair after a car accident. His dreams of playing basketball are revived when he joins a wheelchair team. His father who was a professional basketball player is able to coach his team.

Some of the stories in this book did not capture me like my favorites.  It is a nice selection and might make some good read alouds as well.  I was hoping that the grade level would be more upper elementary but I do think most of the stories were aimed at the middle school group.