How to Fly with Broken Wings is a 2015 middle grade novel by Jane Elson. It follows the friendship that forms between four people who live in the Beckham Estate: Willem Smith, a twelve-year-old with Asperger syndrome and a secret desire to fly; Sasha Barton, a girl in his class who shares his wish; Finn Mason, the class bully who is drawn into a friendship with Willem through his old friend Sasha; and Archie Dobbs, an old man whose mother Rachel flew Spitfires in the war, and who works teaching troubled adolescents to fix cars.
How to Fly with Broken Wings contains examples of:
- Call of the Wild Blue Yonder: Willem and Sasha both fantasise about being able to fly. Willem even makes a copy of the wings Leonardo da Vinci designed, although they don't work. In the end, they get their wish by flying in the Spitfire they helped Archie restore.
- Character Tics: Willem jiggles his fingers when he's uncomfortable.
- Commonality Connection: Willem and Sasha bond over both their shared interest in planes and flying and the fact that both their mums left them.
- Disappeared Dad: Willem's dad is never mentioned.
- Freudian Excuse: Finn's favourite bullying technique is to force Willem to jump off things. In the first chapter, Finn forces Willem to jump off the school wall, breaking his foot. Willem later learns that Finn's abusive father, Craig, also likes to force him to jump off things.
- Gang of Bullies: Finn and his friends Laurence and TJ love to harass Willem. Whenever he sees them, he hits himself, messes up his hair, and pulls a button off his shirt in the hopes that they'll think they already bullied him and leave him alone. Sometimes it works.
- Generation Xerox: Rachel was with her first love, Robert, for twenty-one days before he was killed. Archie gets engaged to Gracie. They live together for twenty-one days before Archie dies of a heart attack.
- Heroic Dog: Finn is beaten so badly in gang riots that he can hardly stand. His Staffie, Buster, pulls on his lead, almost dragging Finn along until they arrive safely at Archie's apartment.
- How Dad Met Mom: Sasha's dad, Fox, used to be in a band called Zebra Blue. Her mum, Maisy, was the wardrobe assistant on their tour. Fox wrote a song called 'Maisy's Rain', which was Fox and Sasha's special song even after Maisy left.
- The Joy of First Flight: After working hard to restore Maisy the Spitfire, which Rachel flew long ago, Willem and Sasha finally get to fly in her. Sasha chokes up with the beauty of the experience. Flying in the same plane as Rachel makes her feel a connection with the dead woman, and afterwards Sasha is more courageous and willing to stand up to Finn because she thinks that's what Rachel would do.
- Messy Hair: Fox never combs his hair. Willem thinks all rock stars have to look like he does.
- Missing Mum:
- Sasha's mum ran off with Zebra Blue's drummer when she was three.
- Willem's mother, Amy, moved to Bristol because she couldn't cope with him.
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Narrowly averted. Finn has a crush on Sasha and is jealous of all the time she's been spending with Willem, so he and some of the other Beckham Street Boyz lure Willem to the roof of the Beckham Estate with the promise that if he can fly, he can be a gang member and have lots of friends. Willem believes them and jumps off the roof with homemade wooden wings. Other gang members hold Sasha on the ground so she can watch him fall. Willem's life is saved when his wings catch on Finn's satellite dish. Finn, having a belated attack of conscience, runs down to his apartment and pulls Willem to safety through his bedroom window.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Fox's real name is Kevin, but no one ever uses it.
- Parental Neglect: Fox barely acknowledges Sasha's existence most of the time.
- Raised by Grandparents: Willem lives with his grandmother, Gracie.
- Ransacked Room: When TJ is arrested for destroying property in a riot, police turn his front room upside down looking for stolen goods. His mother, Aunty Lou, says, 'I will never get them back how they were.' Willem remembers where everything was and helps her tidy the room.
- Security Blanket: Willem carries a small model Spitfire everywhere so he can calm himself by fidgeting with the wheels and the propeller.
- Sensory Overload: When Willem is overloaded, his thoughts tangle, and his world turns grey and starts to melt.
- Switching P.O.V.: Some chapters are narrated by Willem, and others by Sasha. Their chapters use different fonts.
- Troubled Fetal Position: After Finn pulls Willem through his window, Willem curls up in a ball under Finn's bed.
