Flight

            In the book Flight, the main character has to deal with a lot of issues. The main character is a boy named Zits who was put into foster care after his mother died of cancer. Zits had been in a total of 12 different foster cares, and all he wants is his mother. So after escaping from a halfway house, he decides to have a sacrifice to bring his mother back, but instead travels through time. He goes far, far, back into the 1700's and sees what it's like to be an Indian and then as a white soldier. But finally Zits sees what it's like to be his father, and that changes everything for him. 

            One issue that comes up a lot in the book is abandonment. Zits has this fear that every person that he even begins to feel for will abandon him, and through out the book, or at least until the end, that's true. Zits father left as soon as he was born, and then his mother died. Foster home after foster home, kicked him out because they found him difficult, and Zits never found a home. This really didn't help Zits trust people. Like in the beginning of the book when Zits is arrested, the police officer wants to help him, but Zits won't let him because he doesn't trust him. 

            Another issue found in the book is poverty. Poverty is an issue that plagues every society, but it has had a strong impact on Zits life. If Zits family hadn't grown up in poverty, then Zits mother and father might not have had a baby when they weren't ready, and Zits dad might not have run out, then Zits wouldn't have been all alone when his mother died. Of course, this isn't what actually would have happened if they weren't growing up in poverty, but Zits might have learned how to trust people, and learn that some people really can be good.  

            Flight is an amazing book that deals with so many different issues, but doesn't just pile them on. The author uses comedy to balance the book out, and so he gives to a chance to really feel for the character. Zits was a character that went through so much, but just came out stronger. That's what the author wanted people to get out of the books, that things that people go through, but that end up fixed, make people that much stronger.