What Fell From the Sky
| Modern Age |
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 What Fell From the Sky
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| Content Warning |
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| Xenophobia, Racism |
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.
Emily's Review
Honestly, this book had me curious with the comparison to The Goonies and Stranger Things - two of my favorite things.
This is a story about friendship and overcoming fear of the "other." The author used an actual historical event—the government taking over a small town to run a simulation—to ask the question, "What would happen if aliens landed in small-town Texas in the 1950s?"
This was an easy and fast-paced read, and the messages and themes of immigration, racism, and belonging were a bit heavy-handed, but for the intended audience, it worked. I found the characters to be loveable, and I enjoyed the sci-fi elements of the story.
I would recommend this for ages 8+
Other Similar Books
Other suggestions on the subject of the Cold War.
- What Fell From the Sky (by: Cuevas, Adrianna, United States, MG)
- Red Scare: A Graphic Novel (by: Walsh, Liam Francis, United States, UMG, YA)
- A Night Divided (by: Nielson, Jennifer A., East Germany, UMG)
- The Story That Cannot Be Told (by: Kramer, J. Kasper, Romania, UMG)
- Last Night at the Telegraph Club (by: Nichols Lo, Malinda, United States, YA, A)
- The Witch Who Came in from the Cold (by: Smith, Lindsay, Czechoslovakia, YA)
- Commie Pinko (by: Nichols Lynch, Janet, United States, YA)
- Sekret (by: Smith, Lindsay, Soviet Union, YA)
- Lavender House (by: Rosen, Lev AC, United States, YA, A)
- Skandal (by: Smith, Lindsay, Soviet Union, United States, YA)
- Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown (by: Sheinkin, Steve, United States, YA)
- I Must Betray You (by: Sepetys, Ruta, Romania, YA, A)
- The Berlin Letters (by: Reay, Katherine, Germany, United States, A)