Kestrel Takes Flight by Joy McCullough

I think the main thing I need to get over when reading books in verse is that the poetry is never going to grab me as art in and of itself. None of these poems stand alone, at least in my initial read of the book, but they all stand together beautifully to tell a coming-of-age tale at once spare in words yet surprisingly full in emotion.

Eleven year-old Kestrel is not happy when her mom wakes her up in the middle of the night and whisks her away for an airplane ride. Mom isn’t really the kind of adult who has her life together, so Kestrel is unsurprised that she has to be the responsible one, even as she’s contending with the unwelcome novelty of their journey. Kestrel’s never even been on a plane before but, like her namesake, she embraces flight.

What she doesn’t embrace is the unexpected departure from where she and her mom lived with her grandfather in San Diego. Mom says they’re going to be staying in Montana for the summer so that Mom can continue studying the dogs she’d been specializing in before her college career was cut short. Kestrel doesn’t understand why their leaving had to be so abrupt, or why she isn’t allowed to call Grandfather now. She doesn’t like all the changes to her normal routines, and she especially doesn’t like dogs, having had nothing but negative experiences with them growing up.

But the longer she stays at the Karelian bear dog ranch, the more she begins to realize that her previous life in San Diego maybe wasn’t so healthy for either her or her mom. Her grandfather’s love came with repressive strings. Will Kestrel be able to overcome her overly strict upbringing and give Montana a chance, or will her family’s secrets prove their undoing?

This is a great book about how insidious emotional abuse can be and how hard it is to break free of it. Kestrel’s struggles — including the way she lashes out at the people around her — are extremely normal for a kid who’s never been given choices, only discipline. Some of the language of the afterword lacked nuance despite the author’s own attempts to fix that, but emotional abuse is a tough subject to talk about, as it can be so slippery to pin down in and of itself. Like, being constantly ignored by someone doesn’t mean that they’re emotionally abusing you unless they’re your caregiver or otherwise telling you that they do want a healthy intimate relationship with you. But in a world where kids’ psyches are being warped by the emotional cruelty of the very people who are supposed to be guiding them lovingly towards adulthood, books like these are necessary in underlining what’s acceptable parenting and what isn’t. Frankly, it’s great that Kestrel is learning about this at her age instead of when she’s older and it’s even harder to break free of the cycles of the past.

This is a somber yet hopeful story of learning to embrace love and kindness, and finding freedom from an almost invisible form of abuse. The verse format makes it a very quick but heartfelt read, perfect for shorter attention spans.

Kestrel Takes Flight by Joy McCullough was published May 26 2026 by Atheneum Books For Young Readers and is available from all good booksellers, including