Out of the Blue

March 12, 2018
Eight months ago, angellike creatures known as “Beings” started plummeting to Earth and dying on impact. Nobody knows where the Beings are from or why they are crashing, but grieving widower Michael Mackenzie is determined to catch one mid-fall so that he can get some answers. Michael is convinced the next arrival will happen in Edinburgh, so he and his daughters, 16-year-old Jaya and 11-year-old Rani, move there for the summer. Jaya is out for a walk when a Being lands nearby—injured, but alive. Rather than tell her dad and risk the Being’s exploitation, Jaya and her new friends, Allie and Calum, decide to help it heal and send it home. Equal parts humorous fish-out-of-water story and poignant coming-of-age tale, this fantasy-tinged debut from Scottish author Cameron examines questions of faith, agency, morality, and mortality. Mourning her mother, neglected by her father, and rejected by her first-ever girlfriend, Jaya is a vividly sketched, relatable character whose brave decisions encourage readers to embrace life and be true to themselves. Ages 14–up. Agent: Hellie Ogden, Janklow & Nesbit.

March 15, 2018
When angelic Beings inexplicably start plummeting to Earth, humans everywhere read meaning into these events.While religious cults form in the wake of the Beings' arrival, those dubbed "Wingdings" join ranks online to share sightings, auction off wing feathers, and plot how to capture one alive and reap a reward. Jaya Mackenzie, a 17-year-old from rural Scotland, is grieving the recent death of her Sri Lankan-British mother and worrying about her father, a white Scottish man consumed by Being mania. Believing the next colorful, metallic, gender-neutral angel will fall in Edinburgh, he quits his job and takes Jaya and her younger sister, Rani, to live in a run-down student flat in the city. After meeting local twins Allie and Calum, who are protesting the commodification and exploitation of the Beings, Jaya falls hard for Allie while also missing her girlfriend, who has been incommunicado since her mother whisked her out of town. She also needs to decide whether she can trust the twins--not to mention her own family--when she happens upon the first Being to survive a crash landing on Earth. Touches of humor (Jaya names "her" Being Teacake due to her sweet tooth) lighten the story, and the expert pacing is complemented by well-rounded character development.A strong infusion of magic and wonder distinguish this debut novel. (Magical realism. 12-18)

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

April 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-When the first Being crashed to Earth in December, it was brushed off as a hoax. Nine months later, by the 87th incident, the phenomenon has reached cult status around the globe, and Jaya's father has become a true Wingding, ignoring his children and devoting his life to researching each occurrence in order to be present at the next one. He rents a flat for the family in Edinburgh, where he has determined the next Being will land. Jaya, who has been caught in her own personal hell since her mother's death, finds her life changing even more when a Being survives its Fall in front of her. Jaya decides to find a hiding place in order to try and help the angel-like creature. She reluctantly enlists two other teens, siblings Allie and Calum, and they name it Teacake. The group's interactions with Teacake and the Standing Fallen cult present a smart social commentary in a well-written and engrossing story of death, grief, and friendship. Readers will enjoy Jaya's emotional journey as she tries to atone for the certainty that she is to blame for her mother's death by saving Teacake. This is a smart balance of realism and fantasy with well-rounded characters. Allie has cystic fibrosis; her recent brush with death and her burgeoning romance with Jaya, who is Sri Lankan and white, add more layers to the group's dynamic and the novel's weighty themes of life, death, and the miraculous. VERDICT A first purchase for high school and public library collections.-Betsy Fraser, Calgary Public Library, Canada

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2018
Grades 9-12 There is something ethereal, striking, and lovely about Cameron's debut, which mirrors the angels that are falling from the sky in 16-year-old Jaya Mackenzie's world. Having recently lost her mother, Jaya is too distracted by her grief to be caught up in the worldwide frenzy over the angels. So when her father moves the whole family to Edinburgh in hopes of catching one of the winged beings, Jaya is less than thrilled. But the last thing Jaya expects is to actually find one. With tight pacing, Cameron's novel is filled with lyrical writing that brings Edinburgh to life, as well as complex characters, a sweet LGBT romance, and some refreshingly well-done disability representation. Though the presence of angels begs the question of an afterlife, Cameron imbues her novel with much more than that, exploring how a society would react if mysterious, otherworldly beings began falling from the sky?everything from mere curiosity to dangerous, dogmatic devotion. This artful, thought-provoking novel is perfect for philosophical teens.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)