Whirligig (novel)
Whirligig is a 1998 novel by Paul Fleischman. It is about a teenager who builds a Whirligig in each of the corners of the United States in order to pay restitution (and to find redemption for himself) after he kills another person, by accident, in a suicide attempt by car crash.[1]
 First edition | |
| Author | Paul Fleischman |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Publisher | Henry Holt and Company |
Publication date | May 15, 1998 |
| Pages | 133 pages |
Plot
Seventeen-year-old Brent Bishop has moved with his parents in Chicago, Illinois. He goes to a party in an attempt to fit in and become popular. He decides to talk to Brianna, a popular girl at the party. She tells him to stop bothering her and to leave her alone. The entire group hears this. Chaz, the party host, mocks him for his actions at the party. Angered, Brent retaliates and then drives away and tries to kill himself by crashing his car. He says that he has control over his life and everyone else around him are pawns, powerless. Brent then crashes into a car being driven by a girl named Lea Zamora. Lea dies in the crash; however, Brent survives the crash. Instead of a conventional prison sentence, Brent agrees to a form of restitution chosen by Lea's mother. Lea's mother tells Brent to build and place four whirligigs at each corner of the Contiguous United States in order to memorialize and carry on Lea's philanthropic ideals. Brent agrees to this, as he feels guilty for his actions. He receives a bus pass and supplies to help him build his whirligigs.
When Brent arrives at Bellevue, Washington he starts to make his first whirligig, a harpist. There, he meets a cyclist who plays Go, who teaches him about the movement of life. In San Diego, California, Brent wanted to stay at a hostel but they tell him that only foreign travelers can stay there. Brent lies, saying that he's from Canada. He meets a foreign student named Emil at the hostel. Before leaving San Diego, he makes his second whirligig, a mermaid on top of a whale. In Miami, Florida, he ponders the concepts of religion. With the help of some children on the beach, Brent makes his penultimate whirligig, a marching band. His last whirligig was built in Weeksboro, Maine, a model of Lea Zamora which spun its arms in the wind. After that he meets a female painter who realizes Brent's problems and helps him, allowing him to finally realize he was free. He decides to place a whirligig in every state, eventually face his parents and Lea's mother again, and start at a new school.
The whirligigs left behind to impact the lives of other people that come across them long after Brent has left that area of the United States. They include a girl named Steph from Weeksboro who wants a boyfriend, a Puerto Rican street sweeper nicknamed Flaco in Miami looking for quiet time, a Korean boy named Anthony in Bellevue who is desperate to play baseball, and a girl named Jenny in San Diego worried about her grandmother.
Style
The novel alternates the perspective of the narration every chapter. Among these are Brent, whose perspective takes up every other chapter starting with Chapter 1. In the other chapters, Anthony, Jenny, Caleb, TJ, Flaco and Steph are introduced. They are all profoundly impacted by the whirligigs left behind by Brent.
References
- "Whirligig". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 7 December 2014.