Everything feels a bit skewed, conveying the experience of being in transition from the familiar to the threateningly unfamiliar. We come when there’s grief.” Oppel deftly conveys the fear and dislocation that can overwhelm a family: there’s the baby born with problems, the ways that affects the family, and Steve’s own struggles to feel and be normal. “We come when people are scared or in trouble. “We’ve come to help,” assures the winged, slightly ethereal being who offers a solution to Steven in a dream. Readers may find parallels with Skellig in the sibling anxiety and the odd encounter with a winged creature-but here the stranger is part of something sinister indeed. Readers see through Steve’s eyes his parents' fears for the new baby, whose congenital health issues are complicated and unusual. Steve has figured out strategies to cope with many of his anxieties and OCD behaviors, but this summer the pressure is on. Steven must fight for his own life as well as for his baby brother’s when he’s offered a chance to exchange human life for something better.
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