What a different type of sci fi story. Not just sci fi, but a love story. Fighting for what you love and discovering that the future is what you make it...that someone from another world has to help open your eyes and find that truth. I wasn’t sure what to expect but after two chapters, I didn’t want to stop reading. Emily was a kick ass and one who can hold her ground if backed up against a wall. Makes me have hope for the future. ( )

Reminiscent of ET, but with survivalist and misunderstood teen subplots. Emily still hasn't come to grips with her parents' decision to move her from friends and a promising ballet program in the lower 48 and drop her in a small Alaskan town where the football team are teen gods, the substitute for dance is cheerleading and it's frigid and dark too much of the year.
When she finds Aiden and scary people appear, intent upon finding him, she makes a desperate decision to stow the two of them away in the cargo of a bush plane. When it crashes and the men who were making her nervous in town appear by helicopter, she realizes things are stranger and scarier than she imagined. What follows is a chase through remote wilderness with she and Aiden bringing along the wounded pilot in an attempt to elude pursuit and get to where she hopes she can send a message. Nice plot that unfolds neatly and kept me involved all the way to the end. ( )

Emily has stowed away on a light plane that crashes into a snowy mountain-side. The pilot survives with a dislocated shoulder and Emily must look after him and her little brother Aiden. Sounds like every survival story you have heard BUT it is a bit different as people are chasing Emily and Aiden and they are trying to get to a large set of antenna before they are captured. Not long after the crash a helicopter lands and the pilot is shot and the three are running for their lives - all because they men want Aiden. And now the spoiler alert plot twist...Aiden is actually an alien taking the form of Emily's little brother who does not exist. This is a survival mechanism that the species adopt - they appear to be the most vulnerable thing that the confronting life form loves. ( For example, when a bear attacks, Aiden becomes a bear cub, so the female focuses on protecting him not attacking him.) Thus, Aiden and all the memories that go with him from birth to 6 years old and suddenly implanted in Emily ( and her parents" brains) so that they protect the alien. The only difference for Emily is that because she has seen him as he truly is, she knows that he is not her brother BUT still feels love for him.
Quite a complex moving tale with a lot of ET overtones - Aiden cannot protect himself like us mammals from the intense cold and needs to stay warm. The end part where Emily and her gung-ho ex-Navy seal Dad storming the facility is a bit rich but I think students will like it. ( )