Hidden Wings by Sara Larca is her first book and is middle grade fiction. Sara sent me this book (no strings attatched) when we connected over bookstagram. 

I don’t typically read middle grade fiction, but I'm trying to broaden what I read, and this was pleasantly surprising! This was a short, fun read, and the characters were sweet and so was the story. At the beginning, it gave me serious Soul vibes (the Pixar movie), but that is where the similarity ends.

We follow Rain, short for rainbow, because of all the beautiful colors her soul has. All souls get to choose a form to embody for their time on Earth; most choose animals that they are familiar with: birds, lions, bugs, horses, etc. When it comes time for Rain to choose, she finds she can't choose between horses and birds since she feel equally connected to the sky and the land. 

Rain eventually finds an area hidden to most of the souls, that contain forms she's never seen before, like narwhals and flamingos. While there she discovers "the forgotten", animals that never get chosen or didn't catch on. These were the mythical creatures, like unicorns and dragons. It is here that Rain's form chooses them: a Pegasus. 

Rain discovers how hard it is to be the only one who looks like you and experiences many hardships of rejection and bullying from other animals. Until she meets Ellie, an elephant. Ellie teaches Rain how to value your differences and accepts her into their motley family. 

This was a book about self-acceptance, found family, and learning not to judge people for being different. This is a perfect book to read to young kids and great book for middle grade kids struggling to accept themselves. This book reflects the struggles that many gender variant people experience. 

A big thank you Sara Larca for sending me this copy!