This was a fun, coming-of-age YA story. It was very sweet and fun to read, but not very memorable. I also did not feel particularly attached to any of the characters.

THIS IS HOW WE FLY by Anna Meriano is a loose Cinderella retelling about a girl who plays quidditch to escape from her rocky home life.
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I didn’t know what to expect going into this. Of course when I saw it was about quidditch, I thought it would be packed with HP references; but I was happy to find out it wasn’t. It focuses on the sport and not the books/movies.
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There is some great conversations in here about sexuality, gender, race. There’s a lot of drama in this book, and I feel like some of it isn’t explained well. So many miscommunications, and it’s like a switch is flipped and all is well again. It was stressful at times. 😅
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Overall, this was a fine read! If you like sports books, be sure to check this out!
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3.5/5 stars. THIS IS HOW WE FLY is available now!
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Thank you to @netgalley and @penguinteen for sending me an eARC to review!

While I enjoyed this book I do not exactly understand how it is remotely a Cinderella retelling. In this book we follow Ellen who is vegan, a feminist, and an environmentalist. She is passionate about all three things to the point of confrontation with her step-mother constantly throughout the book. She does not have any evil stepsisters, nor is her father dead or has he left her with her step-mother.

Throughout the story we see Ellen try and find herself during the summer between high school and college. A period of time when friends change and people move away. She joins a Quidditch team with one of her high school friends to pass the time and ends up finding something she loves to do and people who she loves to be around. Her world changes though when she gets grounded and is forced to do her step-mothers bidding and cleaning chores.

Overall, this book had some good discussions about feminism/environmentalism and how JKR has turned into a piece of trash. It also just shows a small slice of life and parts of what can be the real teenage experience. I know things around the Harry Potter world have become just a dumpster fire and I really tried to remove myself from that part of this book but because this book would still promote people to look into that world, I cannot recommend this book. I am not going to lower my rating because of this, I think that is unfair. This book is well written, discusses a lot of good topics, and has so very meaningful conversations in it. I just wish Ellen had joined literally any other sports team.

I was a bit skeptical going into this book, purely because I wasn't very familiar with how Quidditch is played in real life, but I ended up reading it within a day! It was such an easy, and fun read! I loved the characters, the different relationships that arose throughout, the representation, environmental, and the overarching concept of finding oneself.

The issues Ellen has with her parents, especially stepmother, are ones that I can see many relating to or having similar experiences. I personally never had issues to the same extent with my stepmother while growing up, but throughout the story it was easy to get riled up alongside Ellen and understand her point of view.

I will say, I am not entirely sure why it is classified as a loose Cinderella retelling. I can only think of one moment where it could be considered a similarity to the original fairytale. So if you aren't into retellings, I would just ignore that comparison.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary eARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me this opportunity!

You do not have to know anything about Quidditch to enjoy this book. I adored the main character Ellen, who is a vegan and feminist. She challenges herself and others in their thinking and it makes me remember how amazing and passionate youth are. This book addresses inequalities, gender identity, graduation, race, sports, friendship and crushes. The nods to Cinderella were cute. I saw a lot of my students in Ellen’s character and I really appreciated her perspective. Excellent book that belongs in every high school library.

This book gave me the sense of Harry Potter community that I've lost after everything that has happened with the author. This is How We Fly really brought me back to my early college days where I attempted to play quidditch. This book was incredibly diverse in its cast of characters and life experiences. The struggle with gender and sexuality was really great to read because I'm sure this book will help so many college and high school students feel comfortable with their own struggles. I thoroughly enjoyed the coming of age story of this and can't wait to read more books by Anna Meriano!

I stayed up way too late last night to finish This Is How We Fly by Anna Meriano.

Ellen Lopez-Rourke just graduated high school in Texas and is not having a good summer. She's a passionate activist for social injustice, feminist, and vegan, but she can't find a job, can't stop fighting with her stepmom, and her best friends are drifting away from her.

After a blowup fight with her stepmom, Ellen gets grounded for the summer. In an effort to get out of the house and meet some people before college, she joins a local Quidditch League.

The Quidditch matches were always my favorite part of the Harry Potter movies, so I wasn't sure what to expect since it was played on the ground. It was still fun to read about, and I loved the descriptions of the matches. The book had great Latinx and LGBTQ+ representation and overall, I thought it was a fun YA read!

This novel is perfect for Harry Potter fans - I loved all the HP references as well as the playing of Quidditch (who knew that this is a serious game - I certainly didn't). The story is a perfect coming of age story in that the main character, Ellen, grows up during the story. She is a bit f a brat in the beginning and during the story comes to certain realisations about her behaviour and her family. The novel is a loose retelling of Cinderella. I did not really enjoy the way in which the stepmother is portrayed - the character seemed a bit flat for me and, as a stepmother myself, I feel that her character was not presented in a realistic way.

Overall the novel is an enjoyable read and is one that readers who enjoy reading diverse and coming of age reads may want to pick up.

This book I kept going back and forth about reading but I am glad I did. I enjoyed the muggle quidditch world and the diversity of the characters. I am so glad to see a HP related novel that gives nothing to JKR and I appreciate that the author and the book have taken the appropriate stance against JKRs TERF mindset. The characters were great and I enjoyed the nostalgia.

Such an incredibly charming book--I just wish it were going to be out in time to use in my young-adult literature class in the spring semester. I will definitely recommend it to students when it does come out, though, and will consider it as a selection for future sections of the class. Thanks, NetGalley, for giving me early access to Meriano's book.

BOOK REPORT for This is How We Fly by Anna Meriano

Cover Story: Fake Out
BFF Charm: Roger Murtaugh
Swoonworthy Scale: 5
Talky Talk: Needs More Talk
Bonus Factors: IRL Quidditch
Anti-Bonus Factor: Awful Grownups
Relationship Status: We Can Play Together, But We Can't Play Together

Cover Story: Fake Out
If you didn't know this book was about Quidditch—the real life sport based on the wizarding sport from the Harry Potter universe—(and you didn't read the blurb at the top) you'd likely be wondering what the heck the people on the cover were doing. What are those balls? Why are thy running with sticks between their legs? What sport has three hoops? But if you are at least a little familiar with the sport, you'll get excited about this cover and what it foretells for the story within.

The illustrations and the unique title treatment are also great.

The Deal:
Ellen Lopez-Rourke is a vegan, a feminist, maybe questioning where she fall son the gender spectrum, and looking forward to moving to Austin at the end of the summer to start her freshmen year at the University of Texas.

But first she has to make it through the summer, living at home with her stepmother, who barely tolerates her, semi-absent father, and sweet younger step-sister who always seems to be in the middle of the family's fights. Ellen doesn't see summer Quidditch, which her best friend Melissa talks her into playing, as a way out of home life, but then she's grounded, and Quidditch—and the promise of physical activity—is the only thing that gets her away from her stepmother's endless chore list and seeming inability to care that Ellen doesn't eat food made from animal products.

BFF Charm: Roger Murtaugh
I really wanted to like Ellen, and there were times that I did. But for the most of the book, she came across as completely unwilling to stand up for herself in a productive way, instead choosing to fly off the handle (heh) or cower in the face of "setting off" her stepmother and causing her to leave (again … no one wants a repeat of what happened at Christmas). There's no inbetween with Ellen, and although we're closer in age than many a YA character (by only like a year, but whatever), her immaturity was grating.

Swoonworthy Scale: 5
There's a guy on Ellen's team who takes an interest in her ans shows it by being an ass. Then there's a hot guy from a rival team who she shares a moment with on the field—and then makes meaningful eye contact with after the game. Neither are that swoony, but at least the situation with the latter gives a feeling of early college/"I don't know this person, but I'd like to"/missed connection butterflies.

Talky Talk: Needs More Talk
Meriano, who lists playing full-contact Quiddich in her bio, obviously knows a thing or two about the sport, and that knowledge translated quite well to the page. What didn't translate well, however, were her characters. I found myself not wanting to root for anyone, even Ellen, and endlessly frustrated with everyone's immaturity, selfishness, unkindness, and unwillingness to have an actual conversation. (Except for perhaps two or three of the tertiary characters, but there weren't enough scenes with their good qualities to override the poor ones.) This is How We Fly reads like an early draft that would have benefitted from another round of editing to make the characters more appealing and more believable; I wanted to get sucked into this story, but found myself too frequently pulling away from it with a groan.

Bonus Factor: IRL Quidditch
I've never seen a real-life Quidditch match, but it seems like it would be as confusing to watch as one in the Wizarding World, without the additional excitement of people flying around on brooms. I wish Quidditch had become a thing slightly earlier; I would have loved to give it a go while I was in college, but US Quidditch didn't kick off until 2005, when I'd already graduated. I love it's inclusive nature! (Learn more about US Quidditch here.) But now, I fear, I am much too old. Is there a seniors league?

Anti-Bonus Factor: Awful Grownups
This is How We Fly is billed as a loose retelling of Cinderella, which I'd forgotten about while reading, and I don't think really fits the story at all. At least, not to the extent that it works. Ellen's stepmother is awful, but not awful enough to be a true villain; she mostly just frustrated me to the point where I wanted to stop reading, rather than actually rooting for her to get her just desserts. She was as bad as Ellen when it came to communication, and her passive agressive attitude toward her husband made me want to scream. The family has some serious problems without them seeming so serious, if you know what I mean.

Relationship Status: We Can Play Together, But We Can't Play Together
It's cool if we're teammates and see each other on the Quidditch pitch, Book, and I won't make things weird while we're playing. But I'm going to have to pass on any other hanging out, unless the rest of the team's coming along.

I now feel as though I was born about 5ish years too late, where I wasn't able to enjoy Muggle Quidditch in college, which I have no doubt I would have thoroughly enjoyed.

THIS IS HOW WE FLY is a story of friendship, family, and grappling with the big questions so many of us are facing in which we are truly looking at the world in which we live and working on changing the systems that we have no use for.

I flew through this book, and while the beginning was slower to get in to because I felt as though the book was trying to tackle too many questions of being and living as a teenager, I really appreciated the overthinking and philosophizations of Ellen throughout the book.

This was a super fun entertaining read and it was just what I needed but didn't know I needed. There's a little bit of a Cinderella vibe to the story but it's a pretty subtle story line. I loved the idea of a real like quidditch team, it honestly sounded like so much fun I wanted to go myself! The story does a great job of balancing character development and being plot driven. I loved how Meriano addressed the issues facing young woman today as they transition from being a teenager to an adult. I really liked the characters in this one and the plot was interesting enough to keep me reading. Overall I really enjoyed the book!

Reviewed at Culturess and can be found here: https://culturess.com/2020/12/16/this-is-how-we-fly-review/

Liked lots of moments in this but could have been developed a bit more, especially the ending.

Can a fandom thrive in spite of its disillusionment with the creator of the universe they hold dear? This is the question many a Potter fandom-adjacent organization, BGC included, has faced throughout the timeline of J.K. Rowling’s consistently irresponsible transphobic and imperialist social media ramblings and poorly executed recent works. If the way Anna Meriano’s This is How We Fly deftly addresses this question while centering the story on a group of fans across the gender and ethnic spectrums is any indication — the fans will be alright.


Ostensibly, This is How We Fly is a story about how a soon-to-be college freshman spends her last summer at home dealing with flagging friends, a conflict-heavy home, and her own questions about identity by channeling this anxiety-inducing energy into Quidditch gameplay. However, Ellen Lopez-Rourke, the main character of this story, is not so easily summed up. Having lost her mother at a young age, Ellen has only ever really known the semblance of a mother-daughter relationship through watching how the mothers in her life treat their children. This includes her stepmother Connie’s relationship with her ten year old daughter, Yazmin. She wishes that she and Connie could be as close as Yazmin is with her father as she’s grown up with both in her life since she was eight years old. Unfortunately, Ellen’s teenage ‘attitude’ has laid waste to the good relationship she once had with Connie who does not understand why Ellen is not like how she was as a teenager. Frustrations are further inflamed by Ellen’s father taking on a new job that means he spends more time than usual away from home so Ellen tends to target her annoyance towards Connie who seems to be ever present. Luckily, Melissa, one of Ellen’s best friends since middle school, has a summertime solution that will lead the former band and choir geek out of the house on a regular basis – Quidditch league.

While initially reluctant to get into the sport, mainly because Ellen is just as enthusiastic about exercise as any comfort-seeking book nerd is, she finds it a major source of happiness during a summer where everything she once knew and drew support from is changing. As the story evolves we learn how Ellen juggles her insecurities about her Latinx and gender identities with her growing interest in social justice — views that are still shaping in her mind and remarked upon with laughter by her parents. There is nothing deterrent in this portrayal, as Meriano does a good job in grounding the significance of these issues in the relationships that Ellen has with her friends like Xiumiao, the friend she’s known longest, who is closeted at home and building relationships during the summer that will allow her to live her truth aloud. Understanding that she has people in her life directly who are affected by homophobia, transphobia, and other hateful behaviors, Ellen tries to figure out how to stand up against the harmful comments that her parents make. She finds that her ideological stances are met with derision. Her parents view these as ideas that are too big for her to be worried about as a teenager, which is a reaction that makes Ellen all the more ready to be taken seriously as a college student. The missteps that she makes in attempt to claim her adulthood, namely going to Quidditch practice or down the block without sharing her location with her stepmother, ends with her being grounded for the majority of her summer vacation, with Quidditch as the only exception.

Many of Ellen’s interactions with her stepmother hit home with what I went through as a teenager with a step parent — from them being more restrictive than the parent we grew up with to them reacting more extremely to teenage scrutiny. I also found Ellen’s growing awareness of social justice issues through compassionate interest in making the world better for everyone close to my own. The way she finds community in a space inspired by the Harry Potter series, that is immeasurably more gender inclusive than the series ever will be, mirrors so much of the experience I’ve gained as part of the Harry Potter fandom. Ellen Lopez-Rourke is an exceedingly relatable character with a growing awareness of her shortcomings and a willingness to become a better person without knowing exactly how to do so. Is this not the same self-actualization that we’re all going through? What’s more relatable than that?

Thank you to Penguin Teen for providing me with a copy of this book. This is How we Fly is a loose retelling of Cinderella with Quidditch. Ellen and her stepmom disagree often which results in her being grounded the entire summer before she leaves for college. Her only escape from her punishment is quidditch practice. This book does mention the problems with J.K. Rowling. There are a lot of characters I enjoyed in this book. The start of this book was slow for me. It wasn't until the last half that the book really gripped me. This book dealt with family problems, friends drifting apart and discussed social change and justice. If you loved Harry Potter and or Sports this book is for you.

I loved this book. And not just because it featured Quidditch! (.. although that was a plus). We follow Ellen in her summer after graduating high school, as she finds out that not everything stays the same, and how to come to terms with that. She feels unheard at home, and her two best friends appear to be pulling away from her as well. Throw in confusion about her gender identity and her love life, and Ellen may find starting a new sport with new friends just the lifeline she needed.

It's always nice to read a book that discusses domestic issues like what every young adult goes through all the time, where they fit it, what will happen in the future, friendship, and all other things. This book gave us a strong and relatable character who wasn't sure what she wants, but things led to something, and it turned out she's ready to spread her wings and fly. I love every representation and the superb descriptive writing style of the author. I enjoyed reading it,

This book was super adorable. I really fell right into the story and loved how inclusive it, and the world of Quidditch, really was.

I thought the story moved really quickly and smoothly, not really any surprises in the book. I totally guessed what was going on with Melissa right away which just made me annoyed a bit at Ellen for not seeing it LOL

This Is How We Fly by Anna Meriano ✨

In this modern, nerdy, and feminist twist on a classic Cinderella tale, Ellen Lopez-Rourke spends her last summer before college navigating friendships and love all while playing the real-life sport of quidditch. Although J.K. Rowling's recent transphobic statements (among other things) have cast a sour light on the beloved franchise recently, Meriano makes it clear from the beginning that her characters reject those notions and are young Gen-Z, intersectional, feminist activists. This coming-of-age story is one that I would have loved to read when I was younger, and I feel like many young readers will deeply connect with the tone and message of the book. I recommend it for any young reader who loves Harry Potter, and even those who don't will find someone to relate to within the pages of the story.