The Girl Who Was Convinced Beyond All Reason That She Could Fly

Eggs, a young homeless girl, is convinced she can fly and makes her way around the city by fluttering between rooftops and disappearing up the sides of buildings. Despite this rather odd and solitary existence, Eggs makes two friends: Grack McCart, who sells hot dogs from a bicycle cart, and Splendid Wren, a punk rocker who spends a great deal of her time at home, knitting and reading. Egg’s life becomes more complicated when she unwittingly steals a jacket belonging to Robin, a local thug. Her friends try to protect Eggs, and she does her best to keep out of Robin’s way until he either calms down or simply gives up.

Sybil Lamb’s book is a surreal fable/fantasy with an intriguing and memorable main character. Eggs is a unique heroine who only seems happy when flitting here and there, unable or unwilling to land anywhere, to be tied down to anyone or anything. She enjoys a great deal of freedom but, conversely, doesn’t really seem to belong anywhere. Her antics will bring a smile to readers, but they are tinged with the sadness of someone who doesn’t really seem to know what she wants.

The other characters, Grack, Splendid Wren, and Robin provide a backdrop against which readers can watch Eggs and perhaps better understand her character. Like a bird, Eggs flits from one scene to another, and her friends support her but learn that they cannot force her to commit to more than a few moments with them.

Lamb explores the themes of homelessness and living in a large and generally uncaring urban environment. The urban culture comes alive in places like the Weirdly Specific Market, the five-dollar hotels, the vehicle and pedestrian traffic, and the large buildings and factories with their chimneys, ledges and alleyway garbage cans. Within this setting, readers appreciate the small sparks of friendship between Eggs, Grack and Splendid Wren and even the menace and bullying of Robin. At least there is human contact and connection occasionally. And Eggs, herself, remains a conundrum which is never solved. Does she represent the idea that we can do whatever we want as long as we believe in ourselves? That we can “fly” if only we allow our imaginations and creativity free rein? Or, conversely, does she represent that person who never settles down and is apparently never satisfied in life?

The artwork by Sybil Lamb adds a great deal to the atmosphere of the story. The urban backgrounds are drab greys and browns, allowing the characters to stand out because they are more brightly coloured. The cartoonish and graffiti-like aspects of the art make it an ideal way to represent the surrealistic aspects of the story.

There is really no plot to The Girl Who Was Convinced Beyond All Reason That She Could Fly, and the action consists mostly of Eggs’ flying here and there and making a life for herself. She is one of the more unique characters readers will ever meet in young adult novels, and, while the book will not appeal to everyone, it leaves a great deal open for interpretation and discussion and is the product of a vivid and extravagant imagination.