The Sky Above Us
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
"A compelling, well-voiced look at how teenagers deal with tragedy." -- School Library Journal
"Powerfully crafted and captivating." --Midwest Book Review
From the author of We Speak in Storms comes a compelling mystery about three friends searching for the truth in the aftermath of a plane crash.
The morning after their senior year beach party, Izzy, Cass, and Janie are woken by a thundering overhead. Then they and their classmates watch in shock as a plane crashes into the water. When the passengers are finally recovered, they are identified as Izzy's twin brother, Israel, Cass's ex-boyfriend, Shane, and Janie's best friend, Nate. But Izzy can feel when her brother is in pain, and she knows he's not really dead. So she, Cass, and Janie set out to discover what actually happened that day--and why the boys were on the plane.
Told in alternating timelines and points of view, this powerful and captivating novel follows the three boys in the weeks leading up to that fateful flight, and the girls they left behind as they try to piece together the truth about the boys they loved and thought they knew. A spellbinding story about the ripple effects of tragedy, the questions we leave unanswered, and the enduring power of friendship.
Praise for The Sky Above Us:
"Achingly human with hints of magic, this tale of loss in its many forms builds a compelling mystery." --Booklist
"Lund proves adept at smoothly navigating a complicated plot, building and holding suspense, and creating easily relatable, multidimensional characters." --Publishers Weekly
"A bruising look at loss from many angles." --BCCB
"A deftly written and simply spellbinding story about the ripple effects of tragedy, the questions we leave unanswered, and the enduring power of friendship." --Midwest Book Review
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The summer between junior and senior years, friends Izzy, Cass, and Janie attend a beach party. They awaken the next morning in the sand to witness a fatal plane crash in the water. In the plane were three boys: Israel, Izzy's twin brother; Shane, Cass's ex-boyfriend; and Janie's neighbor, who was distant to Janie at school but close and caring outside of it. Questions abound: How did the boys get the plane? Who taught them to fly? Was the crash intentional or an accident? Lund (We Speak in Storms) incorporates two time frames in this story set on a Texan island, juxtaposing flashbacks of the boys' states of mind before the crash with the girls' investigation into what happened. Digging deeply into the characters' psychologies, Lund reveals Israel's nightmares about a former life, Shane's feeling of hopelessness after an injury ruins his chances of a soccer scholarship, and Nate's guilt over keeping his closeness with Janie a secret, fearing ridicule. Lund proves adept at smoothly navigating a complicated plot, building and holding suspense, and creating easily relatable, multidimensional characters. Ages 12 up.
