Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah

With concerns about the child's home situation, Jo reluctantly agrees to let her stay-just until she learns more about Ursa's past. The girl calls herself Ursa, and she claims to have been sent from the stars to witness five miracles. She throws herself into her work from dusk to dawn, until her solitary routine is disrupted by the appearance of a mysterious child who shows up at her cabin barefoot and covered in bruises. In this gorgeously stunning debut, a mysterious child teaches two strangers how to love and trust again.Īfter the loss of her mother and her own battle with breast cancer, Joanna Teale returns to her graduate research on nesting birds in rural Illinois, determined to prove that her recent hardships have not broken her. But the more time they spend together, the more questions they have.Īn Amazon Charts, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post bestseller. When a mysterious child shows up at her cabin, barefoot and covered in bruises, Joanna enlists the help of her reclusive neighbor, Gabriel Nash, to solve the mystery of the charming child. For example, when a fallen branch hits Ursa in the head, knocking her unconscious, she claims responsibility, explaining it enabled a good thing to happen, which she clarifies is “ staying overnight again” (136).About the Book After the loss of her mother and her own battle with breast cancer, Joanna Teale returns to her graduate research on nesting birds in rural Illinois, determined to prove that her recent hardships have not broken her. This theme is evident in several additional events involving Ursa’s quarks.

Ursa’s ability to make good things happen sometimes comes at the cost of bad things happening. Ursa clarifies that she “didn’t want that but sometimes bad things happen to make good things happen” (95).

When Ursa declares, “I made it happen” (95), she invites skepticism from Tabby, who asks if Ursa also “made Nancy get in a car wreck” (95). The owner puts the house up for lease because she must leave the state to care for her former partner after a severe car accident. In the first instance of Ursa claiming responsibility for a good thing happening, Jo and Tabby sign the lease for their dream house. Her quarks are a motif that helps develop the theme Taking the Good with the Bad. She says her quarks “can change people’s fates” and “make good stuff happen around us when we meet earthlings we like” (137).

Ursa’s quarks are a form of magic she claims is one of her special alien abilities.

Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah