When Pigs Fly

When Pigs Fly by June Rae Wood was an enjoyable book about the life of an adolescent girl, Buddy. Like most young people, Buddy is trying to discover who she is and where she belongs. Typical of the age, she has a best friend to share her secrets with, she has a crush on a boy at school, she has a love/hate relationship with her older brother, and she does homework and chores. What is not typical is that Buddy’s younger sister has Down’s syndrome. Her sister’s safety is of the utmost priority to the family. Often Buddy has to stop what she is doing in order to find Reenie, who likes to wander off from the house. She is responsible for getting her sister ready in the morning and for taking to and from school. Buddy has to assume responsibilities that are more mature than the typical teenager. What I found beautiful was the total acceptance rather than resentment Buddy felt towards Reenie.
There were many times while reading this book that I related to Buddy. I have a cousin who is developmentally delayed. Though she is older than I, because of her disability, she interacted better with me than my older sisters. I, like Buddy, was often made responsible for cousin’s safety and entertainment. There were times in the book when other children laughed at Reenie who thought they were laughing with her. That same scenario happened many times while I was growing up. I remember a specific time when I had to bring my cousin to our pool club. Other kids were calling for my cousin to race them. She thought they were being nice but I knew they were doing it so they could laugh at the way she swam. Luckily, my cousin couldn’t understand the subtleties of their behavior and was insulated from the hurt. Unfortunately, I wasn’t. I learned early on that people can be cruel.
Even though not all children have experienced having a special needs relative, I think that those who read this book will find something in the story with which to relate. Aside from dealing of family dynamics, there are issues of divorce, job loss, abuse, poverty, low self esteem, budding romance, and having to move homes. When Pigs Fly is book filled with many themes to be explored. It was well written and had a plot that was easy to follow. Though not for my age of students, I could easily see it being used in a middle school literature class.