Let the sky fall / by Shannon Messenger.

Title :

Let the sky fall

Author:

Format:

Books

Summary:

Ten years after surviving the tornado that killed his parents, Vane Weston, now seventeen, has no memory of that fateful day but dreams of a beautiful girl who, he now learns, is not only real, she is his guardian sylph, who harnesses the power of the wind.

Language:

English

Audience:

HL 680 Lexile.

ISBN - ISSN:

144245041X

9781442450417

Physical Description:

pages cm

Subject:

Supernatural -- Fiction.

Winds -- Fiction.

Spirits -- Fiction.

Amnesia -- Fiction.

Tornadoes -- Fiction.

Orphans -- Fiction.

Young adult fiction.

Fiction.

First Title value, for Searching:

Let the sky fall / by Shannon Messenger.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Library	Audience	Home Location	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Heights	Teen/Young Adult	Fiction	Teen Book	MESSE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Jungman	Teen/Young Adult	Fiction	Teen Book	MESSE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... McGovern-Stella Link	Teen/Young Adult	Fiction	Teen Book	MESSE	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Shepard-Acres Homes	Teen/Young Adult	Fiction	Teen Book	MESSE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A broken past and a divided future can't stop the electric connection of two teens in this epic series opener from the author of the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Keeper of the Lost Cities series.

Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who's swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She's also a guardian--Vane's guardian--and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra's forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim--the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them--but the forbidden romance that's grown between them.

Author Notes

Shannon Messenger is New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Keeper of the Lost Cities and Sky Fall series.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (5)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston lost his parents in a freak tornado when he was seven. While he loves his adopted parents, who live in California's scorching Coachella Valley, he can't shake the feeling that something about that accident doesn't add up. Enter Audra, the gorgeous and disciplined "sylph" who saved his life and has been haunting his dreams. Audra reveals that Vane is also a sylph, a mystical creature who can control the wind, and that he's being hunted by Raiden, a ruthless and powerful sylph. Readers learn the secrets of the sylphs, as Vane and Audra experiment with Vane's emerging abilities and she struggles with her role as his guardian. As Messenger (Keeper of the Lost Cities) alternates between Vane and Audra's perspectives, the story bogs down in detailed explanations about the sylph world, Vane's training proceeds with excruciating slowness, and the romance between Vane and Audra is lackluster and predictable. The novel works best when Messenger's characters are left to explore her vividly imagined world of wind, rather than just talk about it. Ages 13-up. Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Horn Book Review

Long after a tornado kills his parents, seventeen-year-old Vane learns why he survived: he is a powerful sylph who can manipulate the winds. With help from his secretive but alluring female protector, Vane masters his skills in preparation for an epic wind battle. Both the mythology and the frantic plot lack sound structure, but Vane stands out as an affable, crush-worthy protagonist. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

When Vane Weston was seven years old, a category-five tornado killed his parents but inexplicably spared his life. Ten years later, he lives in California's blistering hot Coachella Valley with his foster parents, normal teen angst, and childhood memories of a dark-haired girl. In Messenger's refreshingly clean paranormal debut, the alternating voices of Vane and Audra, the dark-haired girl, narrate the rising action. Audra is a sylph, an air elemental, and she finally reappears in Vane's life with astounding news: the world is in danger, Vane is the only one who can save it, and he is not human at all he is also a sylph. With barely a week to master skills most sylphs need a lifetime to grasp (if he is to successfully fight off his unknown enemies), Vane responds to Audra's hardened guardian ways with a mixture of rebellion against and attraction to the girl who secretly has been watching over him since the tornado. While the romance may be predictable, unusual paranormal entities and strong writing should interest genre readers in search of a fresh new series.--Trevelyan, Julie Copyright 2010 Booklist

School Library Journal Review

Gr 8 Up-Vane, 17, is haunted by the memory of a beautiful dark-haired girl who appeared during the tornado that killed his parents 10 years earlier. He doesn't realize he's not human until Audra appears and tells him of their shared heritage as Windwalkers, or sylphs, air elementals who can command the wind. Her father died protecting Vane from enemies called Stormers, and she blames herself for calling their attention to his family. She has taken up her father's duties and been specially selected by the Gale Force as Vane's protector. With danger imminent from Stormer warlord Raiden, she has to train Vane to harness his powers as the last of the Westerlies and master the languages of all four winds. And she must also fight her forbidden attraction to Vane, who is betrothed to the sylph princess. Told in the alternating voices of Vane and Audra and set in California's Coachella Valley, this is an interesting reversal of the usual magical girl who doesn't know she's special paranormal trope, and sylphs are a nice change from vampires, werewolves, and fairies. The story is a little slow at first, possibly because of the world-building in the beginning, and only really picks up when the pair battle the Stormers near the end. This first of a series ends with a cliff-hanger. Recommend it to Twilight fans.-Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

A teenage boy discovers his magical heritage and falls in love with his protector. Vane Weston has no memories of his life before a tornado killed his parents, only dreams haunted by a beautiful girl. Audra's been following Vane as his assigned protector from the Gale Force. Although Vane has no memory of it, he is an air elemental, or sylph, just like Audra--in fact, he is the key piece in a war against the stock villain, a power-hungry sylph tyrant who murdered Vane's parents. Doing her duties, Audra accidentally reveals their location--in much the same way that, years ago, she unintentionally alerted enemy soldiers, called Stormers, to Audra's parents' location as they served as guardians for Vane's family. This prior accident ended in numerous casualties. Vane must awaken to his heritage and powers, mastering the languages of the four winds (one for each direction), if they are to stand a chance when the Stormers come for them. Audra has only days to train him, adding temporal tension. Chapters alternate first-person narration between Vane and Audra, with Audra's redemptive arc adding meat to the orphan-hero-discovering-his-magical-heritage storyline. While some early exposition is clunky, once the story settles into a character-driven rhythm, the prose smooths out considerably. The twists at the end are refreshing rather than cheap. Characterization elevates this romance over similar offerings in a crowded genre. (Paranormal romance. 12-17)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Excerpts

Let the Sky Fall CHAPTER 1 VANE I'm lucky to be alive. At least, that's what everybody keeps telling me. The reporter from the local newspaper even had the nerve to call it a miracle. I was "Vane Weston: The Miracle Child." Like the police finding me unconscious in a pile of rubble was part of some grand universal plan. "Family Survives Tornado"--now, that would've been a miracle. But trust me, there's nothing "miraculous" about being orphaned at seven years old. It's not that I'm not grateful to be alive. I am. I get that I shouldn't have survived. But that's the worst part about being "The Miracle Child." The question. The same inescapable question, plaguing me for the last ten years of my life. How? How could I get sucked in by a category-five tornado--nature's equivalent of a giant blender--get carried over four miles before the massive funnel spit me back out, and only have a few cuts and bruises to show for it? How was that possible, when my parents' bodies were found almost unrecognizable? The police don't know. Scientists don't know. So they all turn to me for the answer. But I have no freaking idea. I can't remember it. That day. My past. Anything. Well, I can't remember anything useful. I remember fear. I remember wind. And then . . . a giant, blank space. Like all my memories were knocked out of my head when I hit the ground. Except one. One isolated memory--and I'm not even sure if it is a memory, or if it's some strange hallucination my traumatized brain cooked up. A face, watching me through the chaos of the storm. A girl. Dark hair. Darker eyes. A single tear streaks down her cheek. Then a chilly breeze whisks her away. She's haunted my dreams ever since. Excerpted from Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.