Emilie Day believes in playing it safe: she’s homeschooled, her best friend is her seizure dog, and she’s probably the only girl on the Outer Banks of North Carolina who can’t swim.
Then Emilie’s mom enrolls her in public school, and Emilie goes from studying at home in her pj’s to halls full of strangers. To make matters worse, Emilie is paired with starting point guard Chatham York for a major research project on Emily Dickinson. She should be ecstatic when Chatham shows interest, but she has a problem. She hasn’t told anyone about her epilepsy.
Emilie lives in fear her recently adjusted meds will fail and she’ll seize at school. Eventually, the worst happens, and she must decide whether to withdraw to safety or follow a dead poet’s advice and “dwell in possibility.”
From Golden Heart award-winning author McCall Hoyle comes The Thing with Feathers, a story of overcoming fears, forging new friendships, and finding a first love, perfect for fans of Jennifer Niven, Robyn Schneider, and Sharon M. Draper.
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It’s become very hit and miss when it comes to my liking of contemporary novels. I have to say “The Thing with Feathers” was a successful hit out of the park! It started off so funny and held that until the very last chapters. This book will rip your heart out just to put it back in and caress it with love. I am so over joyed I had the opportunity to read this wonderful story! “The Thing with Feathers” features Emilie. She’s hidden away from the world ever since her dad died of cancer. She has also been diagnosed with epilepsy and she doesn’t leave her room. She is homeschooled and pretty much has drawn away from the world. I felt very sad for her because she felt like she couldn’t do anything because of her illness. An illness that she has no control over. Emilie grew so much in this book. I was surprised to love the one part where she attempts suicided and then decides she wants to live. As a survivor of suicide, that really touched my heart. This story is so empowering. It teaches that you shouldn’t give up. You shouldn’t let illnesses or anything take over your life and stop you from doing what you want to do. There is always hope! Book in a Pinch: Girl with epilepsy learns that she doesn’t have to hide away from the world. Go Into This One Knowing: It involves themes of cancer, epilepsy, suicide (slight), domestic abuse (slight) and romance
— Night Owl Reviews
Emilie Day believes in playing it safe: she’s homeschooled, her best friend is her seizure dog, and she’s probably the only girl on the Outer Banks of North Carolina who can’t swim. Then Emilie’s mom enrolls her in public school, and Emilie goes from studying at home in her pj’s to halls full of strangers. To make matters worse, Emilie is paired with starting point guard Chatham York for a major research project on Emily Dickinson. She should be ecstatic when Chatham shows interest, but she has a problem. She hasn’t told anyone about her epilepsy. Emilie lives in fear her recently adjusted meds will fail and she’ll seize at school. Eventually, the worst happens, and she must decide whether to withdraw to safety or follow a dead poet’s advice and ‘dwell in possibility’. ‘The Thing with Feathers’ is a compelling story of overcoming fears, forging new friendships, and finding a first love. Very highly recommended for personal reading lists, ‘The Thing with Feathers’ will prove to be an ideal and enduringly popular addition to school and community library YA Fiction collections.
— MidWest Book ReviewBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
McCall Hoyle writes honest YA novels about friendship, first love, and girls finding the strength to overcome great challenges. She is an award-winning author and an ALA Schneider Family Book Award finalist. She is a sixth-grade language-arts teacher in one of the largest school systems in Georgia. She has a wide circle of influencers in the middle grades, including teachers and librarians. In addition to teaching middle grade readers, she regularly makes presentations at local schools, as well as at the National Council of Teachers of English, the American Library Association, and BookCon.
Nora Hunter has narrated several audiobooks, including The Ballad of Aramei by J. A. Redmerski and Beyond This Point Are Monsters by Margaret Miller. Her reading of One for the Murphys won her an AudioFile Earphones Award.