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The Girl Who Fell from the Sky

Heidi W. Durrow

Start date: June 1, 2010

Finish date: September 30, 2010

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What Members Thought

Jan 24, 2010 Amy rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, young-adult, read-in-2010

Goodreads overview of book:

This debut novel tells the story of Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I. who becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy. With her strict African American grandmother as her new guardian, Rachel moves to a mostly black community, where her light brown skin, blue eyes, and beauty bring mixed attention her way. Growing up in the 1980s, she learns to swallow her overwhelming grief and confronts her identity as a biracial young woman in a world that w Goodreads overview of book:

This debut novel tells the story of Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I. who becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy. With her strict African American grandmother as her new guardian, Rachel moves to a mostly black community, where her light brown skin, blue eyes, and beauty bring mixed attention her way. Growing up in the 1980s, she learns to swallow her overwhelming grief and confronts her identity as a biracial young woman in a world that wants to see her as either black or white. In the tradition of Jamaica Kincaid's Annie John and Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, here is a portrait of a young girl - and society's ideas of race, class, and beauty.

Although I've been hearing a lot of buzz about this book, I intentionally avoided reading any reviews before picking it up myself. This novel was winner of Barbara Kingsolver's Bellwether Prize for Fiction, awarded for serious literary fiction that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships. And, kin my opinion, this book is a well deserved winner of that prize. In fact, this is a really special little book that I really enjoyed reading. It had everything that a good, compelling book should offer to a reader.

First of all, Heidi Durrow does an excellent job in the writing of the novel. The prose is sparse and pointed which really adds to the overall feel of the novel. In addition, the chapters and their alternating voices were an excellent way to unfold the story. The unfolding of the story is a critical part of why I enjoyed it so much. Durrow kept me intrigued by slowly giving me bits of interesting information but not truly tying it all together until the end of the novel. As I spent more and more time with each of the characters, I was amazed at how well she gave each of them life and made them jump off of the page.

However, beyond all of that, what is really special about this book is the underlying social issues that it addresses through the story. By interweaving the character's experiences of race and gender with the story, Durrow was able to highlight those issues very effectively without EVER coming off as preachy. The themes of racial identity and gender identity were really fascinating to me and gave me a great deal to think about. It made me look a bit deeper into the ways we view and approach race and gender in our every day lives. I felt that Durrow's novel gives the reader an opportunity to view a variety of viewpoints and perspectives on racial and gender identity in a fresh way. In the end, I feel that Durrow did an excellent job at creating a novel gives the reader a really good modern coming of age story while also providing the reader with relevant social commentary on issues that deserve more attention. ...more

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Apr 08, 2010 Lisa Hickman rated it really liked it

Shelves: literary-fiction, library-books, bookmarks-2010

Heidi Durrow's first novel tells the story of Rachel who survived a tragic fall from a rooftop. It also relates her struggle to survive in a prejudiced world, where she is neither white or black, but dusky, kinky haired and blue-eyed; she is the daughter of a black man and Danish woman. This is a moving coming of age story, set against a backdrop of racial injustice. I'd really like to see a continuation of Rachel's story as an adult. ...more

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Apr 06, 2010 Bookmarks Magazine rated it really liked it

Shelves: may-jun-2010

Durrow fashions a classic fish-out-of-water tale in her brilliant debut, which some compare to Toni Morison's The Bluest Eye in its exploration of race and identity. It comes as no surprise that The Girl Who Fell from the Sky was awarded the 2008 Bellwether Prize, the award founded by author Barbara Kingsolver to support literature of social responsibility. This is certainly not an easy read, with each chapter told from a different character's viewpoint with a ""Rashomon quality that builds tens ...more

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Apr 18, 2010 Barbara rated it really liked it

One of the most compelling, emotional novels I have read in quite awhile. It is the story of Rachel, a biracial girl who is the sole survivor of a devasting family tragedy. It was an amazing read however I thought the author brushed over some important events too quickly and left the reader wanting more.

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May 15, 2010 Laura rated it liked it

Bleak tale of a bi-racial girl who survives a tragedy. Circumstances of the event are not fully explained until the very end of the story. Written in a very direct manner through multiple points of view. Compelling second half.

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Jun 09, 2010 Jamaie rated it really liked it

Ok...this book I'll admit has kept me thinking after I finished it. What a horrible tragedy! A page-turner for sure. A quick read also. I do recommend it to everyone I know. ...more

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Jan 25, 2010 The Sassy Bookworm rated it it was amazing

I really, really enjoyed this one. It's one of those books that reminds me why I love reading so much. It's beautifully written and the author does a wonderful job of drawing you into each character and their lives. It was a difficult book to put down. ...more

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