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The Weight of the Stars

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

A vivid, evocative YA lesbian romance about how the universe is full of second chances
Ryann Bird dreams of traveling across the stars. But a career in space isn't an option for a girl who lives in a trailer park on the "wrong" side of town. So Ryann becomes her circumstances and settles for acting out and skipping school to hang out with her delinquent friends.
One day she meets Alexandria: a furious loner who spurns Ryann's offer of friendship. After a horrific accident leaves Alexandria with a broken arm, the girls are brought together despite themselves—and Ryann learns her secret: Alexandria's mother is an astronaut who volunteered for a one-way trip to the edge of the solar system.
Every night without fail, Alexandria waits to catch radio signals from her mother. And now it's up to Ryann to lift her onto the roof day after day until the silence between them grows into friendship, and eventually something more.
The Weight of the Stars is the new LGBT young adult romance from K. Ancrum, written with the same style of short, micro-fiction chapters and immediacy that garnered acclaim for her debut, The Wicker King.
An Imprint Book

"The Weight of the Stars is one of the most gentle, gracious, and, overall, kind books that I've read all year ... It's a YA romance about girls and stars and friendship and mercy and loss and regret and what we owe each other and what we give away to lift each other up ... This book is starlight on broken concrete, it's flowers on a broken rooftop, and it's a masterpiece." —Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author of Every Heart a Doorway

"As bright as it is stellar ... a story with a lush, dark atmosphere; heartbreaking circumstances; bright, new love that blossoms from ugliness; and vividly real, magnetic characters." —Booklist (starred review)
"Touches on sexual identity, friendship, nontraditional families, and the price of human space exploration. The characters' resilience and vulnerability are deftly handled ... For readers who are drawn to the unconventional, this will be a satisfying read." —Kirkus Reviews

"Their slow-burn romance ... is sweetly, devastatingly understated." - BCCB
PRAISE FOR THE WICKER KING:
"Ancrum delves into the blurry space between reality and madness. A haunting and provocative read that will keep teens riveted." —School Library Journal
"Teen fans of moody psychological horror will be entranced." —Booklist
"Give this to readers who like complex, experimental fictions about intense relationships that acquire mythic resonance." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"An eerie piece of realistic fiction whose characters revel in intense emotions." —Kirkus Reviews
"An eerie and mesmerizing thriller that questions the space where reality and perception overlap, The Wicker King is a spine-tingling read that will have you riveted." —Caleb Roerhrig, author of Last Seen Leaving and White Rabbit

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    • Kirkus

      January 15, 2019
      A high school senior discovers common ground with a new friend and develops a deep connection that changes her life.Ryann Bird is the primary support for herself, her brother, and her nephew following her parents' accidental deaths. They live in a trailer park, but she attends school in an affluent neighborhood where she maintains a tough exterior. A teacher asks her to befriend new girl Alexandria Macallough, whose mother volunteered for a controversial one-way trip into space sponsored by a private company, SCOUT. The girls' relationship has a rocky beginning, including an incident in which Alexandria is seriously injured. Seeking to make amends, Ryann involves her friends in a scheme to break into SCOUT to retrieve the messages Alexandria's mother has sent through the years. As the plan proceeds, Ryann faces her attraction to Alexandria as well as the sacrifices she has made since her parents died. This is an unusual story--both in plot and how the narrative is tracked--that touches on sexual identity, friendship, nontraditional families, and the price of human space exploration. The characters' resilience and vulnerability are deftly handled. Ryann and her family are white, while Alexandria is biracial (half black/half white). An observant Sikh secondary character with a Muslim given name and polyamorous parents is presented without sufficient backstory.For readers who are drawn to the unconventional, this will be a satisfying read. (Fiction. 14-18)

      COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Booklist

      Starred review from February 15, 2019
      Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Ancrum follows her devastating thriller, The Wicker King (2017), with a sf sophomore novel that is as bright as it is stellar. All tough-girl Ryann Bird desires is to soar among the stars. However, such dreams are impossible for orphans like her. Trapped in a trailer park, Ryann falls prey to the toxicities of her environment. Then she meets nerdy, aloof Alexandria and extends an offer of friendship. Alexandria rejects Ryann, however, until Alexandria suffers an accident and the two girls are thrust together, despite now despising each other. Ryann quickly learns that her and Alexandria's meeting may have not been by chance; sometimes the universe has grand plans and places certain people in your orbit. Alexandria desperately listens to radio signals every day for a transmission from her mother, who is an astronaut undertaking a one-way voyage to the edge of the solar system. Ryann must lift injured Alexandria onto the roof to listen, and as the two girls begin to lean on each other, their friendship burgeons into a more powerful bond. As before, Ancrum plunges readers into a story with a lush, dark atmosphere; heartbreaking circumstances; bright, new love that blossoms from ugliness; and vividly real, magnetic characters.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

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