The Girl Who Fell from the Sky

Heidi W. Durrow

Jan 2011 · Sold by Algonquin Books

About this ebook

"The Girl Who Fell from the Sky can actually fly." —The New York Times Book Review
 
Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I., becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy after a fateful morning on their Chicago rooftop.

Forced to move to a new city, with her strict African American grandmother as her guardian, Rachel is thrust for the first time into a mostly black community, where her light brown skin, blue eyes, and beauty bring a constant stream of attention her way. It’s there, as she grows up and tries to swallow her grief, that she comes to understand how the mystery and tragedy of her mother might be connected to her own uncertain identity.

This searing and heart-wrenching portrait of a young biracial girl dealing with society’s ideas of race and class is the winner of the Bellwether Prize for best fiction manuscript addressing issues of social justice.

Ratings and reviews

I loved this book because of the way it described race and racism. It was profoundly real. I found myself immensely relating to this mixed girl having troubles with self identity, myself being a white girl in a mostly black school and trying to find my place as well without pretending to be something I'm not, just like her, with her statements of "Yes, I'm black. I'm a black girl." I can't rate this book 5 stars because of the ending. It tells the story of how this girl came to be what she is and never does

The book makes you feel like you are reading something very honest, I wish it could help us heal scars inflicted on each other.

A coming-of-age novel about a young biracial girl who survives family tragedy and finding peace within herself.

About the author

A graduate of Stanford University, Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, and Yale Law School, Heidi W. Durrow has received grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the American Scandinavian Foundation, and the Lois Roth Endowment and a Fellowship for Emerging Writers from the Jerome Foundation. Her writing has been published in Alaska Quarterly Review, the Literary Review, and others.