“What happens when a sixth-grade class is left unsupervised for a whole day?...A story that is by turns sad, poignant, and funny . . . absorbing.” —Booklist (starred review)

Mr. Fabiano—aka “Mr. Fab”—is popular with his sixth-grade students, but today a substitute is covering his class. Except the substitute never shows up. Instead of reporting the situation, they decide to prove they can run the class by themselves. With a little ingenuity and some careful planning, they might just succeed.

But then a fight breaks out between Bastian and Rachel over a classmate, Tommy Feathers, who died six months earlier. Ever since that terrible day, Rachel hasn’t spoken—she communicates only by writing notes. It’s starting to look like the plan is going to fall apart before the bell rings . . . Inventive and uniquely constructed, Flying Solo follows Mr. Fab’s students hour by hour as they tackle the challenges of an unusual school day—and experience a learning opportunity of another kind.

“The rich and complex emotional lives within a classroom of unsupervised students boil toward eruption the day an exceptional teacher is absent. . . . A novel that is funny, real, and often moving.” —Kirkus Reviews