Review: Must Read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 22, 2011
I loved the premise of this book--a young man with a shattered background heads off to reclaim a part of his heritage he thought was lost forever.  His troubled mother dies and Payton is shipped to live with his father, a man he's never known.  To complicate things, his father already has a family, complete with a stepmother and siblings Payton's never met.This is a coming-of-age novella with an important message.  Payton must embrace his past and his musical gifts before he can move forward.  I loved how Payton holds on to his values throughout the story.  He doesn't really know how to interact with his new family, but despite his inner conflicts he treats his younger half-siblings well.  His relationship with his father and stepmother opens like a flower, but not without bumps and bruises along the way.  When he meets the beautiful Lily, Payton feels an overwhelming attraction, but he doesn't take ownership of her problems.  In many ways, Payton is a prodigy not just in music...he often seems wise beyond his years."Blackbird Flies" is a lovely story, brushing up against mental illness and drug abuse issues.  Like the haunting chorus of a beautiful song, the parallels between Payton's mother and Lily play off against one another.  No spoilers here, but Payton is challenged time and time again as he struggles to find the right path.  This novella, gritty in places, is well worth a read.