The Girl who Fell to Earth

October 15, 2023
Grades 5-8 Fourteen-year-old Aria lives on an advanced planet ruled by science, where technology can prevent any disease, slow aging, and even stop death. But after accidentally seeing her DNA under a microscope, Aria finds out she's partially human--an inferior species. Reeling from this discovery, Aria is sent to accompany her dad on a secret mission to eradicate Earth--a ""shadow planet"" populated by the humans whom Aria's people run experiments on. Aria has been told that humans don't have feelings or form attachments because they live such short lives, but what she sees on Earth is different. When the mission goes terribly wrong, Aria is left alone on Earth to survive, find out who she really is, and get home to tell her planet that they are making a terrible mistake. Aria's experience on Earth is vivid and believable, though more details of her home world would have made this even stronger. For any reader who is fascinated by the idea of alien civilizations, this book has a magical feel that will spark wonder.

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September 1, 2023
A half-human teen from the planet Terros faces a dilemma when she's sent on a mission to destroy Earth's humans. Though Terrosians have engineered their DNA to near perfection, 14-year-old Aria Evangular is unusually susceptible to such "glitches" as allergies, fever, and headache. Aria's DNA looks completely different from that of her classmates, and she's horrified to discover that her maternal DNA is human. Created by Terrosian scientists 1,000 years ago and carefully observed ever since, humans are considered filthy and primitive. They're even destroying their own home, which Terrosians dub the Shadow Planet; soon, human-driven climate change will render it uninhabitable. When Aria's assigned to join her father on a mission to the Shadow Planet, she learns Dad's been tasked with releasing a virus in Dublin. It will eventually kill all humans... including, perhaps, Aria herself. But the virus isn't the only danger; a hidden enemy is watching Aria. Can she save herself and her new human friends? While certain plot elements are too convenient, and the characters sometimes feel like mere vehicles for concepts, Forde gives readers much to ponder; realistically, there are no easy answers. Terrosians' prejudice toward humans reflects all-too-human racism and xenophobia--which Aria, who's brown-skinned (like all Terrosians) and assumes a Rajasthani Indian persona in Ireland, also encounters. Aria's growth is believable and poignant, and readers will especially sympathize with her yearning to belong. Most human characters are white. Suspenseful and thought-provoking. (Science fiction. 9-13)

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