No Passengers Beyond This Point by Gennifer Choldenko published in 2011 focuses on the story of three siblings as they navigate a foreign, seemingly perfect city called Falling Bird. In Falling Bird, everyone and everything seems to know exactly what you want when you want it, through an advanced technology called the heart factor. While No Passengers Beyond This Point may seem like just a fun story without a deeper meaning, I would argue that it conveys the message that rather than chasing a celebrity lifestyle, you should focus on connecting with your family.
The city of Falling Bird seems like a utopia. Mouse, the youngest of the three siblings, describes Falling Bird as "a beautiful city that's all sparkly white and silver with color streaming out of it like the prism in the classroom." It seems like a perfect city on the outside, and even upon entering it seems perfect. However, the longer the siblings stay in Falling Bird, the more they realize how strange and messed up this city is.
When the siblings enter the city, there are "fans" all around them, cheering their names and even planes drawing their names in the sky. Each of the siblings gets a house that is perfectly catered to them, with everything they could ever want and even a fake parent that acts exactly how they want them to. However, they are all in separate houses with no form of communication between the siblings, distancing them and pushing them away from each other. To me, this symbolizes the trap of an expensive celebrity lifestyle that sucks away your social life and forces you to cut your relationships.
At a certain point, the siblings each get forced down a tunnel and new people come into their houses to replace them. This represents how, once celebrities have their time in the spotlight, they get forgotten about and replaced, which is another reason not to pursue the celebrity lifestyle. Once the siblings lose their homes, they find each other and manage to escape from Falling Bird after a long, grueling journey. However, they are only able to get out by realizing the importance of family and that they have to give up their luxurious life. India, one of the siblings, thinks to herself, "They are my family. They are real," before giving up her job to find her other siblings again. This moment, and the book as a whole, show the value of family connection over a celebrity lifestyle.
Works Cited
Choldenko, Gennifer. No Passengers Beyond This Point. Dial Books for Young
Readers, 2011.
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