LIFTING THE SKY

Shuffled from place to place without a say in where she goes, 12-year-old Blue and her Mam lead a wandering kind of life. But that’s before Mam takes a job as a hired hand on a long-abandoned ranch and Blue falls head over heels in love with the place. She finds that the undulating lights she sees surrounding all living things are clearer in this new space than they’ve ever been before. While learning to harness this power, she befriends a local Shoshone boy on a personal quest of his own. The only thing to make everything perfect would be if Blue’s dad returned to the family. But when this wish is granted, suddenly Blue needs to come to terms with dreams and reality. The supernatural aspects of this story prove to be superfluous to what is already a strong novel about family and home. The author should have trusted her story without relying on healing lights and questionable folklore. Generally strong with the occasional misstep. (Fiction. 9-12)