I finished Jane Langton’s The Fragile Flag, and aaaaaaaah, I really liked this book, you guys.

I remember reading that in fifth grade. I found the genre-shift from The Fledgling very confusing, although in hindsight I'm not sure I should have found it any more confusing than the nuclear threat and history-changing of L'Engle's A Swiftly Tilting Planet. On the other hand, I can still remember the cover of the paperback in the school library and the glittering, militaristic hyper-patriotism of the new flag, which feels less and less like satire or parable these days. I should read it again.