I believe I read this book in the mid-1960s from the school library. A new boy shows up in the community and, over the course of the summer, teaches all of his classmates to fly. Spoiler alert: it turns out he is actually a bird temporarily in boy form, and when he leaves at the end of the summer (presumably to migrate), one of the girls (maybe a loner who has no family?) goes with him, as a bird. I don’t think it’s the girl from whose point of view the story is told, but that’s possible. The title that sticks in my head, but which I think is wrong, is That Summer, the Birds. THANK YOU!!!
Stump the Bookseller
New format, same book stumper solving.
Summer of the Birds, by Penelope Farmer. You almost had it!
I think this may be Penelope Farmer’s ‘The Summer Birds’ (Chatto and Windus, 1962).
YES! That’s it! And so fast. 🙂
Indeed, my recollection of the title was close, yet not close enough for Google to be of any use whatseover. Thank you so much for recognizing it.
And I see on Wikipedia that Penelope Farmer wrote two more books featuring some of the same characters. New riches to explore.
Deep gratitude all round.