“Signal” (Juv. Fiction)

In Signal, by Cynthia DeFelice, twelve-year-old Owen faces a long, lonely summer in his new home in the Finger Lakes region in rural New York State. He just moved at the end of June and his only companion so far is his lively dog, Josie. The two go adventuring on hidden trails where on separate days they come across a bear, a snapping turtle, and turkeys. On this particular day they find not a wild animal but a torn t-shirt saturated with blood. Owen discovers a wounded girl named Cam hiding in a deserted derelict house. Cam enlists Owen’s help in getting food and other necessities. But she claims that in four days’ time, her extra-terrestrial parents will fly down in a space craft to pick her up. Because her eyes glitter in an unusual way, Owen believes that Cam might have come from another world and helps her prepare for this unusual rendezvous. In the meantime, Owen learns that a rough-looking man is also on Cam’s trail. Owen is sorely tempted to accompany Cam to her distant home where life sounds a lot better for him than here.

New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux [2009]. Reviewed by Lillian Hecker, Children’s Services Librarian. For Ages 9 and up.