Takeoffs and Landings

By Margaret Peterson Haddix

Book Overview

For use in schools and libraries only. When their inattentive mother invites Lori and Chuck to come with her on a two-week cross-country trip, both are mystified, horrified, and hopeful.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689832990
• ISBN13: 9780689832994
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.7" x 0.8" x 5.7"
• Age Range: 9 to 11 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 6

Customer Reviews

A Family Heals Itself

Lori is fourteen and her brother Chuck is fifteen. When they were little they were best friends, but that was before their father died in a farm accidnet and everything went wrong. Chuck and Lori already had two younger brothers and when their father died their mother was expecting another baby. The whole family had to move in with the children's grandparents. Farming wasn't a bad life and the kids all love their grandparents, but Lori, especially, feels a lot of resentment toward her mother, who works as a motivational speaker to support the family. She is never home and over the years she has grown distant from her children. Chuck and Lori have also grown apart. Chuck is clumsy and overweight and not good at school. Lori is quite the opposite, and the two of them haven't really spoken in years. Now Lori and Chuck's mother has decided to bring the two of them with her while she tours some of the major cities in the country, giving motivational speeches. Lori is baffled by the invitation and at first is openly hostile toward her mother. But as they travel with her more and more, Chuck and Lori begin to see a bit of what her life is really like, and they begin to see what they can do to put their family back together again. I liked to see how the individual characters grew over the course of this story, and how the family was able to start to heal after so many years of unhappiness and resentment.

Reading TAKEOFFS AND LANDINGS will make you feel good.

Takeoffs and landings. I guess they're the best parts of going on a plane. Then again, I've been on so many flights that they all just meld together. This is not the case for Lori and Chuck Lawson, two teens stuck in Pickford County, Ohio. Neither has been on a plane, not once --- they've been living with their grandparents and siblings on the family farm ever since their father passed away. Widowed and without a profession or a degree, their mother Joan had to find a job to support her five children. She becomes a motivational speaker, traveling across the country to speak at conferences, and she is rarely home. Lori is resentful of her mother's trips, always wishing that her mom was there for her, both physically and emotionally. Clumsy Chuck is busy struggling with teases and taunts from peers and constant nagging from his grandfather. The younger children don't remember a time when their mother was home for more than three weeks at a stretch. When Joan decides to make up for her absences by taking Lori and Chuck with her on a trip across the country, what will happen? Relationships change and secrets are uncovered as Haddix reveals an aspect of the bond between mother and child that not many people understand. Can Joan Lawson ever make it up to her children? The book is written from three different points of view: Lori's, Chuck's, and Joan's. Although each provides a different spin on the events in the novel, the constant change in speaker demands a lot of concentration. Haddix's idea is clever, but its execution is less so. The ending is predictable; there is no jolting surprise that makes you want to finish the book right at that very moment. On the positive side, however, the novel shows a family who struggles to overcome, which is very inspiring. Reading TAKEOFFS AND LANDINGS will make you feel good, even if you don't like to fly. --- Reviewed by Lisa Marx

A reader

This book was inspirational. It was a very enjoyable read. It was a privilage to see the development in each character and the relationships they have with each other. Beautifully composed, with a twist that stays true to the rest of the book.

Takeoffs and Landings

I think that the book Takeoffs and Landings by Ms. Peterson shows great writing skills. She has a lot of details in her book which enables readers to visualize what is going on. She tells everything that goes on in the minds of her characters which helps her readers relate with them. Takesoffs and Landings is an outstanding book which is so good that it is hard to put down and stop reading for even a minute. If you haven't read the book you most certainly should.

Takeoffs and Landings

This book was a faboulous book to read..... It showed me what family really could be... great book to do a book report on..