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    Signal
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    Signal
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    Signal
    Ebook131 pages1 hour

    Signal

    By Cynthia DeFelice

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    One day while running on the trail near his house in upstate New York, Owen McGuire meets a girl with startling green eyes and bloody cuts all over her body who seems to be utterly alone. Her name is Campion, after the wildflower that is an alien species in the area—alien meaning "from someplace else"—and Campion claims to come from someplace else entirely, a planet called Home. She plans to signal her parents to come pick her up in their spaceship. Owen agrees to help, and as he does, he feels happier than he has in a long time: his mother died a year and a half ago, and now he and his workaholic father live together like two planets on separate orbits, in a new house far from his friends. What will he do when Campion asks him to come with her into outer space, away from his lonely life on Earth?

    In this moving novel, two friendless kids search the night sky for something to believe in—but discover that they've found what they need right here on Earth.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateSep 1, 2009
    ISBN9781429947084
    Unavailable
    Signal
    Author

    Cynthia DeFelice

    Cynthia DeFelice is the author of many bestselling titles for young readers, including the novels Wild Life, The Ghost of Cutler Creek, Signal, and The Missing Manatee, as well as the picture books, One Potato, Two Potato, and Casey in the Bath. Her books have been nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award and listed as American Library Association Notable Children's Books and Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, among numerous other honors. Cynthia was born in Philadelphia in 1951. As a child, she was always reading. Summer vacations began with a trip to the bookstore, where she and her sister and brothers were allowed to pick out books for their summer reading. “To me,” she says, “those trips to the bookstore were even better than the rare occasions when we were given a quarter and turned loose at the penny-candy store on the boardwalk.” Cynthia has worked as a bookseller, a barn painter, a storyteller, and a school librarian. When asked what she loves best about being an author, she can’t pick just one answer: “I love the feeling of being caught up in the lives of the characters I am writing about. I enjoy the challenge of trying to write as honestly as I can, and I find enormous satisfaction in hearing from readers that something I wrote touched them, delighted them, made them shiver with fear or shake with laughter, or think about something new.” Cynthia and her husband live in Geneva, New York.

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    Reviews for Signal

    4/5

    17 ratings3 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This is a good read for any time that you are looking for a book you can finish in a day or two. The story starts at a slower pace, but the action starts to build as soon as Campion and Owen meet. Campion was so mysterious, and she kept me guessing throughout the story. My heart went out to Owen because he was so lonely and depressed. I especially liked learning about Home and what a wonderful planet it is. As Owen learned more and decided to help Campion, I was able to see how he was finally changing and growing since his mom passed away. He had a lot of unresolved emotions, and it was great to see how his life changed through his relationship with Campion. I was curious throughout the book, and I couldn’t wait to find out if Campion was really from another planet and if her parents would see her signal and pick her up in their spaceship. I think kids between the ages of 8 and 14 will enjoy this book if they like science fiction and stories about friendship. This story kept my interest and made me think. I also learned a lot about crop circles!
    • 4/5
      I think this book got off to a slow start, but I really liked its ending. I felt at first that it was almost like propaganda for believing in aliens, but as the plot unfolded I related more to the characters and I really liked the unexpected twist at the end. I would recommend this book to male and female readers, because they can relate to both Owen and Campion and a lot of what they are going through -feelings of abandonment, fear, loneliness, and unexpected friendship. I think one of the best things about this book is that it shrouds a sad story (that of Campion and her neglectful mother and abusive past) in a more light-hearted, fantastical story about aliens. It allows the reader to imagine along with Owen and Campion that aliens will make an appearance, and then causes the reader to sympathize that much more with Campion when they realize how much she wants to believe this herself. I did not think I would like this book very much at the beginning, but it really grew on me. It really reminded me of the book, Afternoon of the Elves.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      After the death of his mother, Owen and his dad move to upstate New York at the beginning of the summer. It's a terrible time to move to a new place because Owen doesn't know anyone, so he spends a lot of time alone. Then one day he's running with his dog Josie and he finds a girl named Campion hiding out in an abandoned house. Cam tells him that she's an alien who was left behind and is just waiting for the full moon when she can signal her parents to come and get her. Owen is instantly intrigued and as he starts to help her he also starts to examine his relationship with his workaholic father. I liked this book fine. Owen and Cam's developing friendship felt very realistic and DeFelice paints a vivid picture of the lakefront setting. This one'll be making the round of state book award nominations or I'll eat my hat.