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Whirligig

Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available

New to town, Brent Bishop longs to stroll around school with the popular Brianna on his arm. But when Brianna begs him at a party full of schoolmates to stop hounding her, Brent's hopes are shattered. Trying to escape his humiliation, he attempts to destroy himself in a car crash—and ends up killing Lea, an innocent teen unfortunate enough to cross his path. Lea's mother asks one thing of Brent: that he create four whirligigs from a picture of Lea and set them up at the four corners of the United States. Lea's mother believes that by spreading the joy that whirligigs gave Lea as a child, Brent will keep Lea's spirit alive. And so Brent goes off with an unlimited bus ticket and the tools he needs to memorialize Lea. On his journey, he rediscovers his own love of life, and he begins to realize how—like the pieces that form the intricate whirligigs—people come together to affect each other in surprising ways.

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  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      A young man is humiliated at a party and attempts suicide behind the wheel of a car in heavy traffic. In a dreadful accident, a young girl dies instead. Four readers bring to life the tragic story of 16-year-old Brent Bishop and the people affected by his reckless action. Robert Field, reading Brent, offers the least appealing delivery. His clipped, sometimes overly dramatic, reading lacks authenticity. An emphasis on the odd preposition or verb, together with frequent, unexpected pauses, separates the reader from the inner life of the character and the flow of the story. Significantly inaccurate (and worthy of note in a recording by a Maine publisher) is the Downeast accent of the campground owner. The other voices are appealing and well suited to the text, particularly those read by Lily Christian. T.B. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 8, 1999
      After a drunk teenage boy kills a girl while driving, his life is transformed by fulfilling a request of the girl's mother. PW's boxed review called Fleischman's novel "stellar." Ages 12-up.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:4.9
  • Lexile® Measure:760
  • Interest Level:9-12(UG)
  • Text Difficulty:3-4

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