About This Book
You might reach for this book when your teenager is struggling with a paralyzing fear of failure or a specific phobia that is preventing them from trying new things. It is an ideal choice for the student who feels like they must be perfect at everything they attempt or for the child who retreats when faced with physical or emotional discomfort. The story follows sixteen year old Rae Lin, a gifted artist who prefers the safety of her sketchpad to the terrifying heights of the real world. When she joins her school's Soar Lab, she is forced to move beyond her sketches and into the world of collaborative engineering and flight. Through Rae's journey, the book explores how courage is not a sudden epiphany but a series of small, intentional choices. It emphasizes the importance of a support system, modeled through her friendships with Marco and Tess, and the necessity of failing forward. This is a secular, realistic contemporary novel that is perfectly suited for middle and high schoolers. Parents will appreciate how it validates the physical sensations of anxiety while providing a hopeful roadmap for building resilience and self confidence.
