Book Review

A Time to Fly Free, by Stephanie S. Tolan

Review by Jennifer Dees

First published 2003

A Time to Fly Free is an intermediate level book (generally, for ages 9–12) that will appeal widely to homeschoolers.

Early in his fifth-grade year, ten-year-old Josh chafes at the expectations of his private school. The "camouflage" he had donned in second grade to pretend he was like everyone else is no longer working. He is ostracized for not being good at sports. He is a C student, although he is "extraordinarily bright" (highly gifted, although the term is not used). He can hardly bear to complete the boring, repetitious work he is assigned.

"Josh turned to the chapter he was supposed to read. It began with scientific classification. The first paragraph compared classification to sorting buttons. Josh sighed. Sorting buttons. Imagine a biologist, trying to follow a single thread through the unimaginably complex web of life, thinking of his job as sorting buttons! Last year it would have seemed funny. Now it didn't."

This classroom experience contrasts with his detailed knowledge of all the birds that live around the Virginia tidal flats he calls home... including their scientific names. He can handle his own boat with ease, maneuvering around the marsh.

Making school even worse, this year's teacher clearly does not like him. Where he was praised for creativity in his writing in the past, "neatness" is her main concern, and his handwriting is messy. He realizes he is just not going to make it with her. One day, as she stands over him, admonishing him to do a page of math problems as punishment for not listening, "right now," he simply gets up and walks out of the room, and out of school.

On the long way home, he wanders into a neighborhood he doesn't know, and stumbles onto Rafferty, an eccentric old fellow who turns out to have a sort of freelance wildlife rehabilitation clinic in his home and yard. The gruff Rafferty recognizes a knowledgeable, fellow wildlife lover in him, and eventually takes him on as an assistant and apprentice.

This is not before his mother struggles to find another school that will work better for him, though. His stepfather, a college professor, seems to understand his pain and be willing to try something new. And Josh struggles with moral issues, trying to understand society's sometimes callous attitude toward wild creatures.

Any child who enjoyed Jean Craighead George's My Side of the Mountain and its sequels, or who is interested in wildlife rehabilitation, will like this book. Gifted children will relate to Josh's thinking. And any child who was in school and escaped to homeschooling might feel that this is his or her story as well.

Just as she doesn't use the word "gifted," Tolan doesn't refer to "homeschooling" in this book, written in 1983. But it is nevertheless a timely book that rings true to the homeschooling world of today. Tolan lays out many of the issues that homeschool families have faced in discussions between Josh's parents.

His stepfather tells his mother that he's found out that educating your children at home is legal as long as you can show they are learning.

"But he isn't! And he wasn't doing all that well in school."

"Of course he's learning. He'll get a lot out of working with Rafferty. Besides, he learns all the time by himself. He probably knows more about wildlife around here than anyone except a professional naturalist."

"What about spelling? And math? And writing a decent sentence?"

"All right, so maybe we have to do something about those things. But you said yourself he wasn't doing all that well in school. Shouldn't we ask why? You know perfectly well he's not dumb. In fact, he's extraordinarily bright! Maybe school methods aren't right for him. There must be better ways to teach him. One-on-one ways, maybe."

A Time To Fly Free was last released in 1990 and is now out of print. You can find used copies through Amazon.com.

See Stephanie Tolan's Web site, listing many articles on giftedness, including her classic, Is It a Cheetah?

Excerpts from the author's bio: Stephanie S. Tolan's earliest memories involve books — those that were read to her and those she read to herself, often late at night with a flashlight under the covers. She wrote her first story in the fourth grade. It was thrilling to discover she could make the magic herself, and she decided then and there to be a writer.

Her latest book, Surviving the Applewhites, a humorous look at a highly creative homeschooling family, has been listed by School Library Journal as one of the best books for children of 2002 and by the Smithsonian as a 2002 notable childrens book.

Stephanie Tolan is also well known as an advocate for extremely bright children. She co-authored the award-winning nonfiction book, Guiding the Gifted Child, and has written many articles about the challenges gifted "asynchronous" children and adults face as they find a way to fit into their world.