This book deserves a standing ovation, because it is all I want in a middle grade novel. It has a protagonist who is relatable, but unique (Nat is paralysed and in a wheelchair and loves musicals). It has supportive parents. It has stuff about developing and maintaining friendships. It has the characters dealing with real emotions. It is fun! And it made me a little misty eyed at the conclusion. Plus the author who is herself in a wheelchair and a Broadway star narrates the audio and when she sings it will make you feel all the feels! I listened to this entire book in one day because I did not want to stop because it made me so happy reading it.

*I will say that as with many middle grade books, the protagonist disobeys her parents and is in my opinion not sufficiently punished. This doesn't detract from the story, but is worth noting so parents know to discuss this with their kids.

Content Warning: Ableism, Fire

I was introduced to "The Chance to Fly" at the American Library Association's (ALA) Mid-Winter conference this past January, during a session with the authors, Ali Stroker and Stacy Davidowitz. Their book talk enticed me to search out an advanced copy, even though middle-grade reading isn't really my thing. After completing the book, I would recommend that this selection be added to every school and public library collection. I am grateful that my fandom of Ali Stoker led me to the session and this heartwarming, nostalgia-inducing, story.

"The Chance to Fly" is the story of a dynamic, precocious, 13-year old, striving to live her best tween life, despite obstacles. Due to my fierce connection to musical theatre, along with the wonderful character development I was moved to tears (of joy) on several occasions during my reading. What begins as a story about Natalie, a strong-willed tween and wheelchair-racer from California, now tossed into a new life in New Jersey, quickly becomes an ensemble piece when she meets a diverse cast of characters while auditioning for a summer musical. This story caused me to reminisce about my own time in high school drama club, bringing back sweet memories of times shared with my drama club friends. The relationships between these characters are both timeless and timely and ultimately, the message of the book is that with a lot of drive and a little help from friends, anything is possible.

As the characters face several obstacles in their path to getting the show up and running, they learn about their own resilience and the things they can accomplish as a team. Throughout the story, we see ways in which the characters are both similar and different from one another and how the combination of their strengths is what helps them ultimately succeed. As the story develops, we also see how the characters change and grow and how one's past doesn't always determine their future. Overall, this is a story of triumph over adversity, shown through the eyes of a very hopeful group of musical theatre kids. If you like musical theatre, be sure to check this book out, when it hits the shelves on the 13th of April 2021!

Such a great middle-grade read!! Even being 21 I found this story relatable and something I wish I had to read when I was a tween. I absolutely loved doing plays/musicals when I was in school and I love that this book was about that hobby, one that isn't written about much. The pacing was perfect and it was the perfect length for a middle schooler. I would definitely recommend this to so many kids and adults alike.

Natalie is a normal middle school girl that loves theater, knows every song in most Broadway productions by heart, but doesn’t want to move away from her best friend. And she just happens to be in a wheelchair. Natalie moves across the country and instead of wheelchair racing like her parents want her to, she secretly auditions for a local production of Wicked. While there, Natalie meets a really encouraging, inclusive group of kids that welcome her right away. As Natalie attends rehearsals and gets to know her new friends she learns how to speak up for herself and how to fight for what she wants. The characters are lovable and fun, and are definitely the kind of friends you would want in middle school!

I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to middle grade readers. Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy.

What a great book. I loved the main character and her experiences with a disability that requires the use of a wheelchair and how nothing stops her from performing.

This book was cute, and fun, and such a great affirmation that you can do anything. Nat is desperate to be treated like any other kid her age instead of adults seeing her chair. While I can't relate to that personally, I've known enough kids in wheelchairs to know that this is common. If they need help, they'll ask for it, otherwise stand back and let them do their thing. Nat's parents are afraid she'll be rejected by the theater for being disabled, which is an understandable fear to have for your kid. No one wants their kid be hurt by rejection, especially when they are par of a marginalized group.

The other theater kids were so open and welcoming to Nat, and the prominent ones were fleshed out with distinct personalities. I really liked how Rey volunteered to use her unusually strong and athletic arms to give Nat a push or pull whenever she needed it and for carrying her to safety during an emergency during a blackout. Hudson for offering to help her translate the dance moves to something she could do. And Malik for carrying her when her chair couldn't make it in the woods at the camping retreat. These kids are inspiring and amazing. While I didn't initially like Savannah, she came through in the end as one of Nat's most supportive advocates.

This book also touched on first crushes, jealousy, and the problems with moving cross country. Nat and her best friend back home, Chloe, both miss each other terribly and almost lose touch as Nat makes new friends. I've moved cross country a LOT. From New Jersey to Florida and back again. And again and again. So this part really hit home. We didn't have Internet or texting etc. when I first moved in '94 so it was the classic Pen Pal situation, but I still drifted apart from friends every time I moved, especially as I got to be Nat's age. So I really appreciate the inclusion of this.

I'd really like to see this become the first in a series where they group puts on a new show every Summer. I give this one Four Lightsabers for the depiction of the the disability, theater life, and moving.

Thirteen year-old Natalie Beacon is absolutely obsessed with musical theatre. Except, she’s never actually been in a play before (even if she does have almost every cast album memorized) or seen an actor onstage who uses a wheelchair for mobility like she does. Lucky for her, when her family relocates from California to New Jersey, Nat discovers a local kids’ production of Wicked, one of her favorite shows ever, so she takes a chance, auditions…and gets in! Soon, Nat’s making friends and having the time of her life, but when disaster strikes right before opening night, it looks like the show may not go on. Can Nat cast aside her fears and step into the spotlight? Or will her dreams of performing end before they’ve even begun?

As a huge theatre nerd, I absolutely loved this book! It was so much fun to follow along with Nat and the other cast members as they rehearsed one of my all-time favorite shows. And what fun characters! Nat is a fantastic protagonist: determined and brave, yet oh-so-real in her reactions to facing barrier after barrier. I wish I could spend an entire day talking about musical theatre and singing cast albums with her! The other characters too are so well-developed and thoroughly bring the story to life. The blend of their unique personalities and the bond between them all kept me reading late into the night. Readers will be able to identify with themes of fierce friendship, discovering independence, and breaking boundaries. I can’t gush about this book enough! Chock-full of musical theatre references and with amazing and much-needed representation, The Chance to Fly truly defies gravity.

(Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing us with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change upon final publication.)

This book is a perfect story to share with any Broadway loving tweens - or anyone who knows what its like to be on the outside looking in. The story follows Nat, a girl who wants to be on Broadway but has what most people would see as a limitation. Nat uses a wheelchair. Throughout the book, Nat goes through so many life changes that it would make anyone's head spin; but the biggest is moving across the country and starting over.

Breaking away from her "regular" extracurricular activity, Nat takes the leap and tries out for a musical. Does Nat make the cast? Will the show go on? Does she get her chance to fly? Find out when you read #TheChancetoFly #NetGalley

I read this book with my niece and absolutely loved it. As a fan of musical theater though I admit I'm not well versed in it I enjoyed the nod to it.

However more importantly was the theme of this book. As I said I read this with my niece a young girl who struggles with a learning disability. This book was the perfect read to inspire her. I love books that encourage not just kids but people in general to chase their dreams.

I love Nat's independent spirit and her need to do what she loves. The diversity in the characters was a nice touch as well. This book opens a door for not only kids to look beyond their disability but also their parents and adults in their life.

We need more books like this that shine a light on what people can do with or without a disability.

Nat isn’t happy when they need to move 3000 miles because of her parents’ jobs. It means leaving her best friend behind and starting again. As a theatre nerd she is delighted to hear about open auditions for a youth community staging of the show “Wicked”. Determined to audition, she goes ahead without telling her parents and is delighted to be cast in the show.

Nat is a wheelchair user and her difficulties and determination form the main part of this story. I love to read books where the main characters have disabilities as it is so important that all children and young people get to see themselves in books. However my main issue with this book, and the reason it didn’t get 5 stars, is that not one of the characters were unkind to Nat. I was waiting for some snide comments about her disability and they just didn’t come. The other cast members were all totally welcoming and accommodating; that is how it SHOULD be but it’s not how it is in reality for many disabled people. Overcoming people’s prejudices is a big part of the problem and whilst Nat came up against access issues in the story, attitudes towards her were a bit too accommodating and inclusive to feel completely realistic.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This brought so much joy yo my musical theatre loving heart!! A stunning story of overcoming challenges and not letting things get in your way, this is a wonderful warm hug of a book!!

Honestly, reading this book made me emotional for a multitude of reasons. It covers a lot of fairly standard MG tropes - main character moves away, has to find new friends, feels like she's drifting away from her "old" best friend etc. - but tropes are popular for a reason. They work, if they're done well as they are here.

Nat is a great heroine - a normal teenage girl who loves theatre and just wants to be able to do the things she enjoys with her friends. She just also happens to be paralysed from the waist down, and uses a wheelchair. She knows there are things she will always need help with, but she wants to be able to push her limits and figure out her own life. I liked that although Nat's disability has to be involved in a lot of the decisions she makes (a reality for many wheelchair users), the plot doesn't JUST revolve around her disability. She's allowed to be a normal teenager with teenage problems.

Her new found friendship group is pretty diverse, and while each character doesn't get a lot of page time (this is a relatively short MG novel after all), their characters are filled in just enough to make them more than just stereotypical tropes on a page. There are no one dimensional bullies here (even if it did seem like it for a while at the start of the story).

The authors' love for musical theatre shines through on every page, and definitely helped to warm my theatre-loving heart while we wait for them to be able to reopen. After reading this, maybe Wicked will be one of the first shows I see when we're able to again.

I decided to read this mostly based on the fact that the main character Nat loves musicals but I really loved it. A truly feel-good story of Nat overcoming friendship issues as she moves across the country, their musical production being shut down and her beginning to develop independence from her parents despite being in a wheelchair. I really recommend this book and would love it to have it in my future classroom library because of the variety of problems it covers that are all important for children to read about.

When Nat moves across the country, her dad wants her to join the wheelchair racing team. She has other ideas and gets herself to the auditions for Wicked. Her parents are worried for her, but she knows this is the place for her. It might be her chance to soar. The detailed characters and how they interact were great. I rooted for Nat and all the Broadway Bounders to get to perform Wicked. This book was a feel good story of triumph over physical limitations.

Thank you so much to Abrams Kids/Amulet Books and Netgalley for the earc to read and review.

Standing ovation for this beautiful story, this book was refreshing to read a perfect theatrical coming of age story with the protagonist being in a wheel chair. Seriously why didn’t books like this exist when I was a teenager? Seeing how easy and natural this was, we need so many books like this in the world. Representation matters and is vital for others to get to see that.

Natty was such an amazing realistic teen protagonist filled with all the emotion as a teen would have but also filled with determination, bravery, her own identity, strength. She was seriously so likeable, yes she was in a wheelchair and felt like that’s all people saw about her but she learns that’s not true. I loved her character, I was excited and rooting for her, I even happy cried for her at the incredible news further in the story. I loved her so much.

Not only was Natty an incredible character this whole book was filled with an array of characters you couldn’t not sink into and feel close too, like Hudson who was honestly the most supportive and caring friend in the world who saw past her wheelchair and saw the talented girl within it. Rey, Malik, Jac, Fig, etc, the characters were all amazing in this story. Savannah Alexis, Chloe both did infuriate me for short bits of the story but you also can’t help but connect with them eventually when you learn more and feel their hearts too. The characters were fantastically written.

I loved that every single page had theatre in it and, it put the songs in my head constantly, though theatre is so popular now (now I am singing Popular in my head) there is so rarely a story like this written and I cannot say how much I loved getting to read this story. The fact that Natty took a chance did what everyone around her said that won’t be possible and actually proved them wrong, she showed up, auditioned and knew deep in her heart theatre was her true calling and then blew everyone away.

From the incredible group of friends, to the theatre, shows and songs references, to the representation, to the you can do what you dream of message, to overcoming boundaries and issues, to first crushes, to defying gravity this book is wonderful. I loved it all so much I wish I knew the right words to say for how much I loved it because I seriously really loved it.

This book is important. This book is so easy to read, so fun, such an incredible escape, so refreshing, this coming of age story of a theatre loving girl who reaches her dreams and makes life long friends and ultimately who lets nothing stop her or get in her way of having her dreams come true.

4 Stars! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

The Chance to Fly tells the story of Nat, a musical theater-loving girl who has always dreamed of performing. After moving across the country, Nat decides to audition for a summer musical production of Wicked. Nat is ecstatic when she gets a part in the show and she quickly becomes friends (and frenemies) with other kids in the show. As a wheelchair user, Nat must navigate the typical adolescent drama as well as issues related to accessibility.

This story includes a diverse cast of characters that are all trying to find themselves and a place where they fit in. While Nat's disability is discussed frequently throughout the book this is not a story about her struggling to overcome her disability. Rather it's a coming of age book that explores typical adolescent experiences of crushes, and friend groups.

As a musical theater lover myself, I loved the references to various musicals. This was a great story with such an important message. I would highly recommend it!

Thirteen-year-old Nat loves musical theatre, but her over-protective parents have kept her from auditioning for a show. As someone who uses a wheelchair, can Nat participate without getting her heart broken? But when Nat sees an audition notice for a youth production of Wicked, she knows it's the perfect chance to chase her dream. Can the director--and the other aspiring actors--see her for the star she is?

I don't read a lot of middle grade books, but I saw Broadway star Ali Stroker's name and I was all in! This book was a total delight, especially for someone who loved musical theatre just as much as Nat at thirteen. Reading about Nat's journey and her lovable group of new friends reminded me just how much theatre shaped me as a young person. And the character of Nat is so rich and well developed, showing not only the barriers she faces to chasing her dream, but also all the ways she's just like any other kid: brave and scared, trying to find her place in the world. I loved every page of this book.

MY HEART EXPLODED WHILE READING THIS BOOK! It was an absolute DELIGHT and also so, so important. Nat just moved cross country from San Francisco to New Jersey. She's a HUGE theater fan but has never been in a show. The thing is, Nat happens to be in a wheelchair and her very caring parents have kept her in activities that are perfectly suited for wheelchair users (ie racing) so as to avoid any heartbreak. But then while meeting a potential new racing team, Nat spies a flier for an upcoming youth production of <i>Wicked</i> and she knows she just HAS to audition, no matter her parent's wishes. She meets new friends and discovers where she is meant to be.

As a theater superfan, my heart absolutely melted with the sheer theater-ness of this book. All the chapters have titles of musical theater songs and the kids literally joke and use theater songs as metaphors (literally, me). Nat even talked about how she knew the entire <i>Wicked</i> soundtrack back to front without even seeing it on Broadway which is EXACTLY how I consumed it. And then there is even discussion of Miscast which is the gala run by MCC Theater where I used to work (though they are not properly credited in the book!). I love that Nat found her people and her place amongst the theater kids. I was never a performer so missed bonding with that crowd until I was older but honestly, theater kids are the same no matter what age they are!

Besides the theater-ness, this book was so important because it features a girl living with a disability without centering her disability. Ali Stroker, one of the co-authors, is a Tony Award winning actress and also a trailblazer as the first person to star on Broadway while using a wheelchair. Together, she and Stacy Davidowitz touch upon all the ways the world does not support people who use wheelchairs, especially in the theater world.

There were a few things in this book that you have to suspend your disbelief over (in the vein as theater itself as discussed between Hudson and Nat). For instance, no one can gets the rights to <i>Wicked</i> right now and definitely not a youth production. Also, can you imagine a youth production of <i>Wicked</i>???! It is also a bit crazy that the whole production worked out in the end. Though they touched on all the different roles that go into making a production happen, the fact that the 18 kids that are in the production already were able to do it while still being in the show was insane. And the cost of any theatrical space is way more than they are letting on.

Any complaints aside, I adored this book and will be recommending it to everybody but especially every theater fan (adult and child, I already excitedly texted many of my theater colleagues). It is so important to read diverse books, especially from authors living with disabilities.

“The Chance to Fly” is an adorable tale that inspires you to follow your dreams no matter what challenges you face.

I loved the theme of the story. The authors have collaborated the plot in a creative manner where you root for Nat on her journey. I loved how they depicted her disability in a realistic but positive way. On one side, Nat faces hurdles and has to put a brave front over things that she cannot do. Nevertheless, that doesn’t stop her from following her dreams.

Moreover, I loved how lively and supportive the theatre group is. They accept Nat from the get-go and never say anything rude to her. More importantly, they don’t pity or feel sorry for Nat and treat her like everyone else. The way the author wrote this aspect was a breath of fresh air. Also, I loved the musical theme of the story! It is clear that the authors share a passion for musicals, and I was thrilled when I read scenes from “The Wizard of Oz,” “Wicked,” “The Lion King,” and “Annie” (which are some of my favorites!)

The authors also did a beautiful job in the dynamics between the characters. Nat and Malik share a beautiful friendship. I also enjoyed the dramatic moments between Savannah and Nat. Similarly, Nat and Chloe’s scenes were interesting, and I was curious to know if they could overcome their difficulties. The author also sweetly wrote about Nat’s parents. Nat’s parents are overprotective of her, which is understandable, and fear her trying out new things if she cannot handle it.

Overall, I thought “The Chance to Fly” was an excellent realistic middle-grade novel that shows you can achieve your dreams if you put your mind and effort into it!

I really appreciated how authentic Nat's experiences felt, likely due to the fact that a lot of them were clearly inspired by Stroker's own past. She was a realistic character, and I loved that her conflicts didn't stem from her struggling with her disability, but from the fact that she understood how unfair it was that she was always expected to be the one to adapt instead of people/organizations making sure they were accessible. But the writing style of the book was just a bit too cutesy and over the top for me.