The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow

Introduction: From Publishers Weekly, “Durrow's debut draws from her own upbringing as the brown-skinned, blue-eyed daughter of a Danish woman and a black G.I. to create Rachel Morse, a young girl with an identical heritage growing up in the early 1980s. After a devastating family tragedy in Chicago with Rachel the only survivor, she goes to live with the paternal grandmother she's never met, in a decidedly black neighborhood in Portland, Ore. Suddenly, at 11, Rachel is in a world that demands her to be either white or black. As she struggles with her grief and the haunting, yet-to-be-revealed truth of the tragedy, her appearance and intelligence place her under constant scrutiny. Laronne, Rachel's deceased mother's employer, and Brick, a young boy who witnessed the tragedy and because of his personal misfortunes is drawn into Rachel's world, help piece together the puzzle of Rachel's family.”

Title & Author: The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow
Genre: Socially responsible fiction (2008 Bellwether winner)
Time Period: 1980s
Location: Chicago and Portland
Main Characters: Rachel, Nella, Roger, Laronne, Brick

Characters: strong, well developed, many different view points are addressed through these various characters; this makes the story very deep and meaningful. The characters draw you in.
Writing Style: simple yet consequential poetic and evocative prose.
Opening: a real heart-grabber draws you in immediately.
Plot/Story: thoughtful reflection on racism, racial identity, and coming of age. This is a very serious and endearing story of survival that evokes deep emotions in the reader.
Action: suspenseful and filled with heart-wrenching familial love, devotion and abandonment.
Dialogue: strong, complex and very well done.
Humor: this is a very earnest story; mostly it is a humorless novel.
Believability: the emotions and relationships feel very real. The author was interview this week on NPR and she said it was inspired by a true story of a mother in Chicago when she was growing up.
Relatable: I could not relate to the story line – I’m not bi-racial but I could relate to the emotional responses to loss, love and fear.
Originality: very unique in its perspective and plot line.
Enjoyable: YES – most definitely! This was a wonderful read I highly recommend it.
Ending: controversial ending.
Recommendation: ***** - Excellent read – you don’t want to miss this one!