I predict this will end up being a readers' choice nominee for my state's Rebecca Caudill award. The story is adventurous and engaging, and there are some interesting backgrounds including Ernesto and Pineda's Cuban background and an African American soldier who outranks his colleagues but is still treated as less-than. I hadn't realized that in the 50's a town in Texas was the setting for a military exercise in which they had a mock Communist invasion. At this time in history, citizens questioned military intelligence, including whether they knew about alien existence. The author weaves an alien visitor into a tumultuous event in history, while examining what it means to belong. In the best way, its the children, and the family that knows what it's like to be outsiders who come to the rescue.

In my youth services department, I had a lot of middle grade readers who were really interested in war stories and military experiences. There was also a large demand for paranormal stories. This will hit the sweet spot for readers who like both.

"What Fell from the Sky" is a middle grade historical science fiction novel by Adrianna Cuevas. Pineda is a middle schooler in rural Texas in the 1950s. Things get pretty weird when the US Army takes over their town for a military anti-communism exercise, but they get even weirder when Pineda discovers an alien in his family's barn! He names her Luisa and recruits his friends to help her find her parents. As the son of an American father and a Cuban mother, Pineda knows what it feels like to be a bit different, and this helps him empathize with Luisa's situation and makes him the best person to convince people to help Luisa and her parents escape. A funny and heartfelt story, "What Fell from the Sky" is a recommended purchase for all middle grade fiction collections, especially where sci fi and historical fiction are popular.

"I guess sometimes we just need people to help us feel like we belong."
👽
It's March 1952 in Lariat County, TX and Pineda wants to just hang out with his friends Junior, Ernesto and Patsy, but during class they see men parachuting from the sky into their town. They've decided to carry out a training exercise in their tiny farming town, taking over the school and the local government. Pineda knows they also have two aliens because he's keeping their daughter, whom he named Luisa, safe in his family's barn. He's promised to help reunite her with her parents and save them from the government, but it soon proves easier said than done. With the help of his friends, the townspeople and the only Black officer in the army, Pineda fights for ALL Americans, whether they were born here or even on another planet.
🛸
Our differences are what makes us special. They're what should unite us. Adrianna Cuevas tells a wild MG story with her latest book, but at the heart it's about not being afraid of those who are different than us. Embracing various cultures, families, stories, etc. is what America was founded on and I believe we've lost sight of that as a nation. Fans of Stranger Things, The Goonies, Back to the Future and ET will love this adventurous, historical fiction tale that has so much truth to it! Be sure to read the Author's Note at the end to learn more about this Texas origin story.

CW: war (theme), war hysteria, racism, microaggressions, xenophobia

What makes us American? And what would you do if the US military suddenly invaded your town? In a world where we're constantly getting told that it's us vs. them, Adrianna shakes up true history by getting us all to root for the chickens, aliens, and pie-baking ladies. This book had me hooked from the very first chapter - I read it all in one day!