Flying Solo Author:Ralph Fletcher Friday, April 28, 9:00 a.m. — Opportunity is knocking at the door of Mr. "Fab" Fabiano's sixth-grade class. Mr. Fab is absent and a substitute never arrives. The class wants to prove that KIDS RULE, so they decide to run the class on their own. Super smart Karen leads the way in the class routines and most of the kids join in. But for Rachel Whit... more »e, this isn't just any other day. Rachel's been silent for six months and communicates by writing notes. Rachel knows today is exactly six months since their classmate Tommy Feathers died. In her own way, Rachel reminds the class about this--and for the first time, Mr. Fab's students reveal their true and sometimes hurtful thoughts. Where is Mr. Fab's class headed now? The school day isn't over yet. Will they keep flying solo or crash?« less
What happens when a sixth-grade class is left unsupervised for a whole day? One might imagine that anything but learning would occur. But when a class usually led by a gifted teacher is left to its own devices, something unusual happens: when the substitute teacher fails to show, the children in Mr. Fabiano's class decide to run the day according to the strict but enjoyable routine ingrained in them by their creative, beloved teacher. Rest assured Fletcher's characters aren't goody-goodies. Rather, they are coconspirators as a countdown clock builds the tension: Will they make it through the day without being found out? As they go through their rote exercises, the kids gain self-assurance and self-reliance. They also come to terms with their feelings of guilt, grief, and sorrow about a classmate who died six months earlier.