Self-discovered tragedy, persistence through life, and losing connected strangers is a real story that inspired Heidi Durrow. This book was originally based on Juliane Koepcke’s survival from a plane explosion over the Amazon Jungle on Christmas Eve, 1972. Heidi Durrow published The Girl Who Fell From the Sky on February 2010 and received the Bellwether Prize for Fiction. There is no specified age rating, but there are some inappropriate scenes revolving around relationships, sex, reckless drinking, and death. So personally rating, the book would either be PG-13 or higher. This is an individual book, but there are multiple movies based on it and the original event of Juliane Koepcke. Keep in mind that different people shift between chapters, which confuses who’s the “real protagonist”. Rachel will always remain the real protagonist and not the other characters!
To credit this similar event, Durrow illustrated a light-brown girl named Rachel who survived the falling of a nine-story building in Chicago. Her mother and siblings faced the tragedy of death, forcing her to move to Portland, Oregon. Living with her grandmother and Aunt Loretta gave her a variety of self-identity challenges because she was light-skinned and mixed raced. As the book progresses, she discovers more about her behavior, culture, parents, and the tragic event.
Personally, the number of inappropriate scenes wasn’t very appealing to read because of the protagonist’s involvement in different relationships. Along with the shifting characters between chapters, it was hard to identify the timeline. On the other hand, the story’s beginning felt retable because the girl struggled with racism and self-identity. Finding self-identity as teenagers is a difficult struggle because we want to fit in society or strive for better. I believe this book is targeted at mature audiences but teaches life lessons such as the separation between lust and love. Although this book isn’t appealing to some audiences, the remarkable event that inspired Heidi Durrow to create Rachel on her journey, taught society a simple question. How do we find ourselves in a time of loss? Like Rachel, once we discover that answer and reflect, life is only a book of chapters. This is just the beginning.
Comentários