The Sky Above Us

September 1, 2020

Gr 8 Up-A prop plane nosedives into the water as high schoolers on the beach watch in shock. The three boys in the plane, Shane, Israel, and Nate, were partying on the beach just hours before. Now they are dead, and no one knows why they were flying the plane. They leave behind three girls grappling with the aftermath. Izzy, Israel's twin, is convinced that her brother isn't dead, as she would surely feel the pain of his loss. Cass, Shane's ex-girlfriend, struggles to forgive herself for cheating on him and causing their breakup. Janie, Nate's next-door neighbor/friend/more, knew he was depressed after a soccer injury ended his future career, and regrets not pushing him to get help. The three girls work together to investigate the boys' secrets, particularly Israel's recurring nightmares of his death in a past life. All six major characters, and some minor ones as well, are strongly envisioned. Lund starts with present day, but moves back and forth with ease between the past and the present to help explain the boys' motives and intentions. While the ending doesn't neatly tie up the story, it does bring a realistic sense of closure for the reader. Izzy and Israel are Latinx, and while the other characters' backgrounds are not mentioned in the book, Janie and Cass are described as "brassy-haired" and "blonde," respectively. VERDICT A compelling, well-voiced look at how teenagers deal with tragedy.-Kelly Jo Lasher, Middle Township High School, Cape May Court House, NJ

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2020
How many of your past lives do you remember? Janie, Cass, and Izzy are there on the beach when the plane falls into the ocean. They're girls with friends, brothers, and ex-boyfriends in common, but they'll bond quickly in the days after the crash. Izzy knows intuitively that her twin brother, Israel, is in that plane, and it is soon confirmed that he was accompanied by Cass' newly ex-boyfriend, Shane, and Janie's neighbor-and-secret-friend-outside-of-school, Nate. But why were the boys flying? And was it by suicide or accident that they lost control? In alternating chapters (first-person accounts post-accident by the girls and third-person narration pre-accident for the boys), a bigger mystery unfolds, seemingly linked to Israel's beliefs about the transmigration of souls and Izzy's belief that he and his friends are now the dolphins she keeps seeing near the Texas Gulf Coast island on which they live. While the multiperspective construction makes narrative sense for a story where readers are expected to be mystified, it's hard to keep track of whose chapter is whose when all the voices sound the same. As the book goes on, the prose becomes less purple, though it's hard not to lose the feeling of woo-woo given the focus on reincarnation when no religion is invoked. Most characters default to White; Izzy and Israel are Venezuelan American. A compelling premise that never quite shines. (Thriller. 13-18)

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October 12, 2020
The summer between junior and senior years, friends Izzy, Cass, and Janie attend a beach party. They awaken the next morning in the sand to witness a fatal plane crash in the water. In the plane were three boys: Israel, Izzy’s twin brother; Shane, Cass’s ex-boyfriend; and Janie’s neighbor, who was distant to Janie at school but close and caring outside of it. Questions abound: How did the boys get the plane? Who taught them to fly? Was the crash intentional or an accident? Lund (We Speak in Storms) incorporates two time frames in this story set on a Texan island, juxtaposing flashbacks of the boys’ states of mind before the crash with the girls’ investigation into what happened. Digging deeply into the characters’ psychologies, Lund reveals Israel’s nightmares about a former life, Shane’s feeling of hopelessness after an injury ruins his chances of a soccer scholarship, and Nate’s guilt over keeping his closeness with Janie a secret, fearing ridicule. Lund proves adept at smoothly navigating a complicated plot, building and holding suspense, and creating easily relatable, multidimensional characters. Ages 12–up.

October 15, 2020
Grades 9-12 Lund's (We Speak in Storms, 2019) sophomore novel tells of grief, the pain of living, and the ways we cope. Janie, Izzy, and Cass wake up from their senior beach party to a fatal plane crash in the ocean, only to discover the passengers are their best friend, twin brother, and ex-boyfriend, respectively. Now, in the aftermath of grief and the shock that the boys closest to them were hiding more than they realized, the three girls struggle to understand their new reality. Told in perspectives and time lines that shift between the three girls post-crash and the three boys pre-crash, Lund reveals the circumstances leading to the tragic morning on the beach. Achingly human with hints of magic, this tale of loss in its many forms builds a compelling mystery that will lead readers along with Janie, Izzy, and Cass on a journey of discovery and growth. An ambiguous ending lets readers decide for themselves what to believe, whether to place faith in the hope of new beginnings or draw meaning from tragedy to carry them forward.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)