What Fell from the Sky
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- USD 10.99
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- USD 10.99
Publisher Description
From Pura Belpré Honoree and Edgar Award Winner Adrianna Cuevas comes an out-of-this-world middle grade adventure, based on true historical events, perfect for fans of The Goonies and Stranger Things.
All Pineda Matlage wants is to get through the school year and maybe pull an epic prank or two with his friends Junior, Ernesto, and Patsy. But class is disrupted when a slew of American soldiers descends upon their rural Texan town of Soledad. They’ll be carrying out a training exercise and taking over everything, from Pineda’s school to the local government.
But Pineda knows why they’re really here. For days he’s hidden the strange creature who fell from the sky in his parents’ barn. He promised her he’d find her family and help them return home. But with soldiers now on every street corner and armed checkpoints across every road, reuniting his new friend with her missing parents seems an impossible task. Especially when they realize that the army’s presence is really a coverup for capturing his alien friends—being observed in a laboratory by the US government for reasons of their own.
Enlisting the help of his friends, a Black soldier adjusting to a newly integrated army, and townspeople tired of the military’s destructive presence, Pineda and all of Soledad will embark on an adventure none of them could have ever expected.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
One Texas fifth grader is forever changed when the U.S. military stages a mock invasion of the tween's fictional town of Soledad in this 1950s-set sci-fi adventure based on real historical events. Cuban American Pineda Matlage is baffled by the slew of soldiers that have descended upon his town. His parents say they're training in case "an American town was taken over by Communist forces." While going about his routine chores on his family's farm, however, Pineda unknowingly uncovers the real reason for the invasion upon discovering Luisa, a blue-gray humanoid extraterrestrial with telekinetic powers, hiding in the barn. Luisa informs him that she has been separated from her parents, who were captured by soldiers. Now Pineda must rally the town to help rescue Luisa's parents so they can safely return home. Via alternating first-person POVs from Pineda, Luisa, and more, Cuevas (The No-Brainer's Guide to Decomposition) clearly juxtaposes real-life happenings with the protagonist's science fiction adventures, paralleling the marginalization of past and present Latinx American citizens with Luisa's plight as a visitor from outer space. With a healthy suspension of disbelief, Cuevas delivers a timely message about the importance of standing against discrimination. Ages 8–12.
