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A review by saidtheraina
Girl on a Plane by Miriam Moss
3.0
Written for someone else:
In this contemplative, fictionalized memoir, Moss writes about her experience as a passenger cum hostage on a hijacked airplane when she was fifteen years old. After a couple of short chapters introducing her family and circumstances (British, military, stationed on Bahrain), Moss puts us on the plane. She paints a picture of what it was like to be restricted onto that vessel -- with very little food, water, or comforts -- for several days, grounded in the hot Jordanian desert. Moss writes in the Postscript and Q&A at the end that she doesn’t remember many of the people or details of the experience, hence the fictionalized nature of this telling. The atmosphere on the airplane is uncomfortable and stressful, boring and psychologically traumatizing at the same time. The hijackers came from Palestine, and their motivations in taking over the plane are discussed, but the focus is on Moss, and what she was thinking and feeling. The story not only covers her time on the plane itself, but also some of what happened immediately afterwards, which extends the book farther than many authors might choose to go, even before the back matter. Many aspects of life in 1970 are included, such as alcohol usage and underage smoking, and gendered behavior conforms to the era. Recommended for thoughtful readers in middle and high school, but do not promote this book as an action adventure.
Written for GR:
The meta of this book is the main reason I'm into it.
If it was a fully fictional account out of someone's brain, I'd probably move on, but the fact that this author is also the protagonist IRL really sells it for me. I picked it up hoping it would be actiony, figuring a Title that seemed modeled off of [b: The Girl on the Train|22557272|The Girl on the Train|Paula Hawkins|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490903702s/22557272.jpg|41107568] would certainly belie some similarity in literary vibe of the book inside, particularly when combined with the subject heading "hijacking." I was surprised to discover that I should have paid more attention to the vibe of the graphic design of the cover. This is not a fast-paced book, and it took me a few weeks to finish it.
Some of the content caused me some concern as well. Although I'm sure it's historically accurate, there's a section on page 56 that seemed unnecessarily gendered, as well as a lot of smoking (both adult and underage). Granted, it was a very stressful situation, and I totally believe that the alcohol and cigarettes did flow.
I was also pulled in by the promise of a military kid, and this is a pretty minimal element, more told than shown.
The epilogue, btw, is totally from the perspective of the past-middle-age adult, reflecting on the experience of going back to the location where the hijacking took place.
There are also chapters which take us to the parental perspective, which didn't feel true to the YAness of the book.
I really liked, tho, that she shows us (without even really telling us) the psychological trauma of the experience, including some of the recovery.
When all is said and done, tho, I liked it. I think I'll booktalk it to middle schoolers, and just make sure to address the setting and author of the book in a very clear way.
--
Edit to add:
This ended up being one of the runaway hits of my 2018 middle school booktalk lineup.
I took parts of chapter 25, and focused on the feelings Anna's having on the plane, then ended with a suspenseful line from page 127.
It was really fun to act my way through, you could hear a pin drop when I got to the end.
Then, you let them know it's a true story. Mic drop.
Awesome booktalk.
In this contemplative, fictionalized memoir, Moss writes about her experience as a passenger cum hostage on a hijacked airplane when she was fifteen years old. After a couple of short chapters introducing her family and circumstances (British, military, stationed on Bahrain), Moss puts us on the plane. She paints a picture of what it was like to be restricted onto that vessel -- with very little food, water, or comforts -- for several days, grounded in the hot Jordanian desert. Moss writes in the Postscript and Q&A at the end that she doesn’t remember many of the people or details of the experience, hence the fictionalized nature of this telling. The atmosphere on the airplane is uncomfortable and stressful, boring and psychologically traumatizing at the same time. The hijackers came from Palestine, and their motivations in taking over the plane are discussed, but the focus is on Moss, and what she was thinking and feeling. The story not only covers her time on the plane itself, but also some of what happened immediately afterwards, which extends the book farther than many authors might choose to go, even before the back matter. Many aspects of life in 1970 are included, such as alcohol usage and underage smoking, and gendered behavior conforms to the era. Recommended for thoughtful readers in middle and high school, but do not promote this book as an action adventure.
Written for GR:
The meta of this book is the main reason I'm into it.
If it was a fully fictional account out of someone's brain, I'd probably move on, but the fact that this author is also the protagonist IRL really sells it for me. I picked it up hoping it would be actiony, figuring a Title that seemed modeled off of [b: The Girl on the Train|22557272|The Girl on the Train|Paula Hawkins|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1490903702s/22557272.jpg|41107568] would certainly belie some similarity in literary vibe of the book inside, particularly when combined with the subject heading "hijacking." I was surprised to discover that I should have paid more attention to the vibe of the graphic design of the cover. This is not a fast-paced book, and it took me a few weeks to finish it.
Some of the content caused me some concern as well. Although I'm sure it's historically accurate, there's a section on page 56 that seemed unnecessarily gendered, as well as a lot of smoking (both adult and underage). Granted, it was a very stressful situation, and I totally believe that the alcohol and cigarettes did flow.
I was also pulled in by the promise of a military kid, and this is a pretty minimal element, more told than shown.
The epilogue, btw, is totally from the perspective of the past-middle-age adult, reflecting on the experience of going back to the location where the hijacking took place.
There are also chapters which take us to the parental perspective, which didn't feel true to the YAness of the book.
I really liked, tho, that she shows us (without even really telling us) the psychological trauma of the experience, including some of the recovery.
When all is said and done, tho, I liked it. I think I'll booktalk it to middle schoolers, and just make sure to address the setting and author of the book in a very clear way.
--
Edit to add:
This ended up being one of the runaway hits of my 2018 middle school booktalk lineup.
I took parts of chapter 25, and focused on the feelings Anna's having on the plane, then ended with a suspenseful line from page 127.
It was really fun to act my way through, you could hear a pin drop when I got to the end.
Then, you let them know it's a true story. Mic drop.
Awesome booktalk.