Takeoffs and Landings

• Junior Library Guild selection, 2001
• Bank Street Best Books of the Year

Ever since their father’s sudden death eight years ago, Chuck and Lori’s mom has spent most of her time on the road as a motivational speaker, leaving them and their younger siblings in the care of their grandparents. But this trip is different; this time, their mother has invited Chuck and Lori along in an attempt to reconnect with her eldest—and now most distant—children.

Lori is so angry with her mother for her constant absence she can barely look at her, and Chuck, as usual, tries to make himself invisible. From the start the trip seems doomed. But slowly, walls built up over the years begin to show cracks. Laser-sharp glares are finally and painfully turned inward. And in the end secrets are finally revealed–secrets that will change all of their lives forever . . .

“Haddix adeptly shows the trauma of family tension and sibling rivalry in subtle passages rich in detail, creating an absorbing, realistic novel that challenges readers to grow, like Lori and Chuck, by exploring the unfamiliar.”
—Booklist

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