After a member of her competitive cheerleading team is injured in practice, sixteen-year-old Marnie is asked to be a flyer-the most coveted role in cheerleading.

The Soar Starlings team has a real shot at the provincial championship, and Marnie has only a few weeks to prepare. But as she scrambles to polish her lifts and throws, Marnie's personal life begins to unravel. First, her boyfriend of two years breaks up with her, and then her best friend Arielle, captain of the Starlings, disappears during a team trip to Toronto. As Marnie struggles to adjust to being both a flyer and the team's new captain, she realizes that, to be a leader, you have to let go of old alliances to make room in your life for new ones.

This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for middle-grade readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read!

Nora Rock is a college professor and freelance writer. The author of a dozen textbooks for high school, community college and university, Nora specializes in writing about the law for non-lawyers like police officers, social workers and health-care professionals. She's an avid fan of hockey and football, both the professional kind and the kind her sons play. Nora played high school football herself and was a cheerleader for many years. She lives in Ajax, Ontario, with her husband and two sons.

Nora Rock's profile page

• Commended, Junior Library Guild (JLG) Gold Standard Selection

"The mystery is timely and fast paced."

Booklist

"Fly Away features an interesting and different subplot revolving around Marnie's best friend's decision to drop out of her final semester of high school to focus on an art career...The book offers up few easy answers, leaving some issues to be resolved in readers' own minds. This short novel will appeal to reluctant readers and enthusiasts of nontraditional sports."

School Library Journal (SLJ)

"The novel will appeal to younger girl readers, especially those interested in cheerleading…Readers will identify with Marnie's struggles to fit in with the squad and her struggle to be a leader and assume the role of team captain in Arielle's absence."

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

"An AMAZING book... must read!"

Hamilton Public Library (HPL) TeenSpace

"[An] enjoyable read...aimed at teen audiences, [and] written at a level accessible to most students. I can't recommend the Orca series' enough."

Puget Sound Council for Review of Children's Media