Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
The Year I Flew Away
Marie Arnold · 2021
86/100
👍 Worth It
Marie Arnold does something genuinely rare: she grounds a middle-grade fantasy in Haitian culture with enough specificity — Creole phrases, 1985 Brooklyn, the immigrant's disillusionment — that it feels lived-in rather than decorative. The Kirkus starred review reflects real quality, and the central conceit of a girl literally trading away her language and heritage for acceptance is both clever and emotionally true. The witch and magic elements are handled critically by the narrative, but parents who avoid any occult content in fiction should know they are present.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
⚠ Parent note — our reviewers flagged: Contains fantasy witch character and wish-granting magic; parents who restrict occult content in children's fiction should be aware. We still scored it 86; these are context for your family, not an automatic skip.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety78
substance86
craft88
originality90
accuracy88
hype85
age-fit88
human-eye87
Penny’s verdict86
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