Signal [Hardcover]

Cynthia DeFelice (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

One day while running on the trail near his house in upstate New York, Owen McGuire meets a girl with startling green eyes and bloody cuts all over her body who seems to be utterly alone. Her name is Campion, after the wildflower that is an alien species in the area—alien meaning “from someplace else”—and Campion claims to come from someplace else entirely, a planet called Home. She plans to signal her parents to come pick her up in their spaceship. Owen agrees to help, and as he does, he feels happier than he has in a long time: his mother died a year and a half ago, and now he and his workaholic father live together like two planets on separate orbits, in a new house far from his friends. What will he do when Campion asks him to come with her into outer space, away from his lonely life on Earth?

In this moving novel, two friendless kids search the night sky for something to believe in—but discover that they’ve found what they need right here on Earth.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A beautifully written story of friendship, loyalty, and trust.”—Starred, School Library Journal

“DeFelice, as always, infuses her mystery story with heart and grounds it in details, so Owen, the natural setting, and (most of all) his companionable dog come to life.” —Horn Book

“Owen’s likable voice, the plot’s quick pace and the science fiction overtones make this a winner.” —Publishers Weekly

“Owen’s loneliness, his lingering feelings of loss over his dead mother and his relationship (or lack thereof) with his father are so realistically delineated.” —Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

Cynthia DeFelice is the author of many bestselling books for young readers, including The Ghost of Fossil Glen, Wild Life, The Missing Manatee, and Weasel. Her books have been nominated for an Edgar Allen Poe Award and listed as American Library Association Notable Children's Books and Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, among numerous other honors. She lives in upstate New York.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); First Edition edition (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374399158
• ISBN-13: 978-0374399153
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #457,507 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read!, August 4, 2010

By 

amysoz - See all my reviews

This review is from: Signal (Hardcover)

Owen McGuire has had a rough year. His mom died, then his dad moved them to the middle of nowhere, away from his friends. To make it worse all his dad seems to care about these days is work, and Owen is left alone most of the time. Luckily he has his best friend, Josie, his dog, to keep him company. One day Owen and Josie discover a bloody t-shirt while out on a bike ride. Turns out the shirt belongs to Campion, and she is biding her time, waiting for her parent's spaceship to return to Earth and take her back to her home planet. Owen believes her story because of conversations he had with his mother about life on other planets, and he has a tough decision to make when Campion offers him the chance to come on the spaceship with her back to her home planet. While he is deciding he and Campion construct crop circles as a signal for her parents to know their location.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read but dealt with very tough subjects in a compassionate and honest way. I liked watching Owen grow as he was faced with a difficult decision that helped him deal with the emotions he had been facing since his mother's death. It really forces the reader to put themselves in Owen's place and think about what they would do if given the choice Owen has been given.
This would be a great book pick for reluctant readers. It's fast pace, plot, and theme would appeal to middle school readers who might feel like they are alone and wonder how their life might be different if they were given a choice to do something different and extraordinary.
If you want to know what Owen end up deciding to do, pick up this book today! You won't be disappointed.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Character Driven Story, January 12, 2010

By 

Mel Odom (Moore, OK USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Signal (Hardcover)

Cynthia DeFelice's book, Weasel, is one of my all-time favorites. I've read it to each one of my five kids. The author has a wonderful knack for creating memorable characters, and she does it again in Signal. Owen McGuire, son of a single-parent household and a father he just can't connect with, or even find much time to share with, is immediately a sympathetic individual.

Told in first-person, the book progresses nicely, introducing Owen, his dog, and his life in a new town where he just doesn't fit in. I enjoyed the description of the town. DeFelice has great skill at making a setting be an important part of a story, and of finding the best parts of that background to show at the best times. With the way the town is, the reader never forgets how alone Owen is.

Things change dramatically when Owen finds Campion. She's obviously been injured, though she doesn't tell him what happened to her, and she's hungry. Owen shares his food, then starts taking care of the strange girl. Readers can immediately see the bond that shapes up between Owen and Campion, and I thought that progression of the relationship was well done.

The menace materializes soon after, but it doesn't really manifest as much as I'd thought it might. I was a little disappointed in this, though the climax at the end of the book was suspenseful.

One thing that bothered me was how heavily the plot revolved around Campion being from another world. I thought it was inventive, but almost distracting in the end. Ultimately the story was all about Campion and Owen both realizing what they already had at home, and with each other.

The book is easy to read and touches on a lot of relationship aspects and ideas of individual worth, so young readers will enjoy it well enough. However, it does take time to get to some of the action, so some patience will be required.