Bent Heavens
by
Daniel Kraus
Edition
Hardcover edition
Publisher
Macmillan
Imprint
Henry Holt and Company, Inc.
ISBN
9781250151674
Awards and Honors
2021 Bram Stoker Award Finalist
POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco: Alcohol Abuse; Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco: Underage Use; Language: Grotesque/Disturbing Imagery; Language: Strong Language; Sexual Content: Strong Sexual Content/Themes; Violence: Strong Violence; Violence: Torture
Liv Fleming is done with childhood fantasies. Done pretending she believes her missing father’s absurd theories about alien abduction. Done going through the motions of checking the traps he set just for her friend Doug’s sake. But on the very day she chooses to destroy the traps, she discovers in one of them a creature so inhuman it can only be one thing. In that moment, she’s faced with a painful realization: Her dad was telling the truth. And no one believed him.
Now she and Doug have a choice to make. They can turn the alien over to the authorities…or they can take matters into their own hands.Author’s note.
POTENTIALLY SENSITIVE AREAS
Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco: Alcohol Abuse; Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco: Underage Use; Language: Grotesque/Disturbing Imagery; Language: Strong Language; Sexual Content: Strong Sexual Content/Themes; Violence: Strong Violence; Violence: Torture
Details
Format
Page Count
304
Trim Size
8 1/4" x 5 1/3"
Dewey
F
AR
0: points 0
Lexile
850L
Genre
Fiction
Scholastic Reading Counts
0
JLG Release
Jun 2020
Book Genres
Horror; Realistic Fiction; Thriller
Topics
Extraterrestrial beings. Torture. Conspiracies. High schools. Aliens. Fathers. Disappearances.
Standard MARC Records
Download Standard MARC Records
Cover Art
Download Cover Art
Praise & Reviews
Starred or favorable reviews have been received from these periodicals:
Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal*
Praise & Reviews
School Library Journal
As she was walking to school her freshman year, Liv Fleming came across an alarming sight: her father, the high school’s English and drama teacher, naked and gibbering incoherently in the town square. He had been missing for four days. As the town looked on and EMTs loaded him into an ambulance, Lee Fleming shouted one phrase: “biologic evidence!” After a year spent claiming he was abducted by aliens, Lee went missing again, this time for good. Now, as Liv steadfastly trudges through her senior year, she has accepted that her father is dead, but that doesn’t stop her from checking his alien traps every Sunday with her friend Doug, the town’s outcast and Lee’s disciple. However, she’s fed up with childhood memories—she’s leaving for college in a few months anyway—but on the day she decides to destroy the traps, the unthinkable happens—an alien is caught. Liv and Doug now face an impossible decision: turn the alien over to the authorities, or keep it a secret and try to find out what happened to Lee Fleming. Kraus dissects loss and anger through the underused genre of alien abduction. Liv and Doug’s grief and fury toward the “skinner,” as Lee calls the aliens, are fully and uncomfortably realized at times. The prose is lyrically visceral and can be unsettling, but the genuine voices of the characters lend themselves to a story that is ultimately a haunting and heartbreaking look at human suffering and the lengths we will go for our loved ones. Beautiful prose does little to mask the anger of this powerful narrative. Readers will have a hard time putting this down.
School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up-As she was walking to school her freshman year, Liv Fleming came across an alarming sight: her father, the high school's English and drama teacher, naked and gibbering incoherently in the town square. He had been missing for four days. As the town looked on and EMTs loaded him into an ambulance, Lee Fleming shouted one phrase: "biologic evidence!" After a year spent claiming he was abducted by aliens, Lee went missing again, this time for good. Now, as Liv steadfastly trudges through her senior year, she has accepted that her father is dead, but that doesn't stop her from checking his alien traps every Sunday with her friend Doug, the town's outcast and Lee's disciple. However, she's fed up with childhood memories-she's leaving for college in a few months anyway-but on the day she decides to destroy the traps, the unthinkable happens-an alien is caught. Liv and Doug now face an impossible decision: turn the alien over to the authorities, or keep it a secret and try to find out what happened to Lee Fleming. Kraus dissects loss and anger through the underused genre of alien abduction. Liv and Doug's grief and fury toward the "skinner," as Lee calls the aliens, are fully and uncomfortably realized at times. The prose is lyrically visceral and can be unsettling, but the genuine voices of the characters lend themselves to a story that is ultimately a haunting and heartbreaking look at human suffering and the lengths we will go for our loved ones. VERDICT Beautiful prose does little to mask the anger of this powerful narrative. Readers will have a hard time putting this down.-Tyler Hixson, Brooklyn Public Library?(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Grades 11 & Up
Mature Young Adults Plus
For Grades 11 & Up
Filled with stimulating nonfiction and can't-put-it-down fiction, this catetory is perfect for bridging the gap between young adult and adult reading. Take note: these 12 selections often contain mature situations and language that could be considered controversial.
14 books per Year
$285.46 per Year
Interests
Diversity,Fiction,Mature Readers,LGBTQ+,Novels,Realistic Fiction
Grades 11 & Up
Mature Young Adults Plus
14 books per Year
$285.46 per Year
