"Compelling magic realist debut in which a fallen angel named Teacake helps heal a teen girl’s grief."
April 2018 Book of the Month
Across the world angel-like Beings are falling from the sky. Their winged bodies seep golden blood on impact with the earth, and then they die. In the aftermath of the first sightings, the world exploded in an apocalyptic frenzy, yielding religious cults and angel-exploiting money-makers. Alongside this, Jaya is also dealing with a personal apocalypse – the sudden death of her mother. While Jaya struggles with her guilt-ridden grief, and with losing contact with Leah, the best friend who might also have been her girlfriend, she’s also irritated by her dad’s fanatical angel-chasing. But, as things turn out, it’s Jaya who’s there when an angel falls, and, for the first time, this angel survives. Angels don’t exist in Jaya’s mum’s Hindi religion so she pushes aside any thoughts that this is somehow a sign. But amidst the frenzy of the Edinburgh festival and the aggressive fanaticism of the Standing Fallen cult, Jaya does everything she can to protect this shimmering rose-gold Being from harm.
The angels are never explained, or fully understood, but that isn’t necessary, for this isn’t about hard scientific facts, this is about matters of the soul. It’s a charming debut, radiant with humanity and heart.
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When angels start falling from the sky, it seems like the world is ending. For most people it doesn't. But for Jaya the world ended when her mother died, two weeks before the first angel fell.Smashing down to earth at extraordinary speeds, wings bent, faces contorted, not a single one has survived and, as the world goes angel crazy, Jaya's father uproots the family to Edinburgh, intent on catching one alive.
But Jaya can't stand his obsession and, struggling to make sense of her mother's sudden death and her own role on that fateful day, she's determined to stay out of it. Then something extraordinary happens: an angel lands right at Jaya's feet, and it's alive.
Set against the backdrop of the frenzied Edinburgh festival, Sophie Cameron's Out of the Blue tackles questions of grief and guilt and fear over who we really are. But it's also about love and acceptance and finding your place in this world as angels drop out of another.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Out of the Blue and determined it is suitable for children aged 13-18 years old
Out of the Blue features in the following genres: Books of the Month, Recommendations, Debuts of the Month, Fantasy / Magical, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Featured Books for Young Adults, PSHE: Bereavement and Grief, Personal Social Health Economic (PSHE), PSHE: Sexuality, Gender and Relationships, Recommended Children's eBooks, Books Reviewed by our Reader Review Panels, Romance / Relationship Stories, Stories about Family and Friends, Featured Books for 13+ readers
Out of the Blue is available in Paperback
Out of the Blue was written by Sophie Cameron and published by Macmillan Children's Books an imprint of Pan Macmillan
Out of the Blue has 280 pages
£7.19
