Yesterday we held our last book club event for this school year. We read a Stealing Air – a book that I debated about but ultimately chose because I love the reality and the outrageous fun and daring of the characters. They don’t always make the best choices, but they are real ones. It gave us a great deal to talk about, and their adventures provided much fodder for our own.
When his dad announced they were moving to Iowa, Brian looked forward to making some new friends. But on his first day there he makes an enemy instead — Frankie Heller, the meanest kid in town. Brian needs to hang out with someone cool to get back on track. . . .
Alex has always been the coolest guy around, and good with money, just like his dad. But now the family is struggling, and he needs to make some cash to keep up appearances. Then an opportunity falls in his lap . . . .
Max is a scientific genius, but his parents are always busy with their own work. Building an actual plane should get their attention — if only he wasn’t scared of heights . . .
The answer to all three boys’ problems starts with Max’s secret flyer. But Frankie and the laws of popularity and physics stand in their way. Can they work together in time to get their plan AND their plane off the ground?
We started out our Stealing Air adventure with a pizza-eating contest. In the book, Brian enters a contest to eat a Big Porker, a one-pound barbecue sandwich with a mountain of curly fries. To simplify things, we stuck with pizza. It was fun, though, to see which kids wanted to participate and how they went about trying to finish their slice first. The most serious used Brian’s tricks from the book!
After talking about the book and choosing scripture to match key characters, we headed outside. We played a trivia game to see which team knew the book details the best, and then that team got first choice of materials.
The kids used their materials to try to build a people-mover that would roll. The idea was to build a contraption, like Brian and his friends, that they could ride down a hill. The first team to the bottom won. Because we had much more wood than wheels, we determined that it had only to roll, and so the kids got creative with that rule.
The kids were really creative and used great problem-solving skills.
They shared their tools and supplies.
When several of their wheels broke, this team built a wheelbarrow-like contraption that would allow them to roll, technically, down the hill, but with the help of their teammates.
The other team built a triangular base with three small wheels on the bottom and a seat on top.
When the time came, they lined up at the top of a very gradual hill and raced to the bottom. The wheelbarrow team won!
We had a lot of fun with Trent Reedy’s Stealing Air. If you like realistic fiction, give it a read!
