Flying Solo

Bastian and John (who was skipping school until Bastian told him about there being no teacher) show up to class wet from the rainstorm. It’s time for the class to do independent reading, but John pulls out a copy of a video game and says they should play that instead. All the boys go to the back of the room to play on the computer while the girls read. Rachel is reading A Beginner’s Flight Manual, “the most detailed book she had ever read on how to become a pilot” (93).

Next on the class schedule is Exploration, which is learning and practicing map skills. Rachel thinks that map skills are boring, but Mr. Fabiano told her, “If you want to fly you have to know how to read a map” (95). Because it is Bastian’s last day of school before moving to Hawaii, the students vote to do a “rock ritual” instead of Exploration.

The students get ready for the rock ritual for Bastian. In the rock ritual, the class sits in a circle, the student who is leaving picks a special rock, and the students pass the rock along while sharing a good memory about the departing student.