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Description
Although the country is at war, terrorists strike at random, and widespread rationing is in effect, thirteen-year-old Sky Brightman is remarkably untouched by it all. She and her family live off the grid on sixty acres of rural New Mexico ranch land with chores to do, horses to ride, and no television or internet to bring disturbing news into their home.
But when a string of mysterious arrests begins and Sky's new friend, Kareem, becomes a target, she is finally forced to confront the world in all its complexity. With courage, ingenuity, and fierce determination, Sky meets injustice head-on and shows the tremendous impact one person can have on her community.
About the Author
Diane Stanley is the author and illustrator of beloved books for young readers, including The Silver Bowl, which received three starred reviews; Saving Sky, winner of the Arab American Museum's Arab American Award and a Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year; Bella at Midnight, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and an ALA Booklist Editors' Choice; The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy; The Mysterious Matter of I. M. Fine; and A Time Apart. Well known as the author and illustrator of award-winning picture-book biographies, she is the recipient of the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children and the Washington Post-Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award for the body of her work.
Ms. Stanley has also written and illustrated numerous picture books, including three creatively reimagined fairy tales: The Giant and the Beanstalk, Goldie and the Three Bears, and Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Praise for Saving Sky…
“In this provocative title, award-winning author Stanley asks young readers to consider what courage might look like in an America under psychological and physical siege. The recognizable adult characters, from the truly good to the fearful to the insidiously evil, are drawn straight from today’s headlines, while the young people manifest a courage few can emulate. Readers will have much to discuss . . . beautifully written.”
-Booklist (starred review)
“The main characters are well rendered and likable, and, in her portrayal of the earth-centered, nurturing Brightman family, Stanley succeeds in delivering the message that hope trumps fear.”
-School Library Journal
“This page-turner skillfully captures the irrational fear of a public under siege while giving kids a modern-day, almost-just-like-them female hero who champions hope. Inspiring.”
-Kirkus Reviews
“This will certainly raise poignant questions about a world that is only very slightly unfamiliar and about the way readers would respond in similar circumstances.”
-Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“This thought-provoking novel explores both the frightening power of mob mentality and fear tactics, along with hopeful possibilities offered when individuals take courageous stands for justice.”
-Publishers Weekly
Praise for Bella at Midnight:“Once begun, it will be hard to put down.”
-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)






