Bent Heavens by Daniel Kraus
Published by Henry Holt & Company on February 25, 2020
ISBN: 1250151678
Pages: 291
Genres: Horror, Science Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads

It has been a long time since a book made me wonder about aliens, but this sci-fi, horror story not only had me thinking, aliens infiltrated my dreams. Local high school English teacher and Drama advisor, Mr. Fleming, begins to act erratically, claiming to have been abducted by aliens, just before he disappears. After his disappearance, his daughter, Liv, is embarrassed and confused. She tries to rebrand herself as a popular athlete, but these changes are superficial and do not resolve Liv’s anger and sorrow. Her friendship with her childhood friend, Doug, is both her savior and her undoing. They still check the alien traps her father left in the backyard every Sunday. When an alien is caught in one of the traps, Liv must confront the fact that her father might not have been crazy. The story turns haunting when, in their fear and distress, Doug and Liv torture the alien. Both teens become increasingly angry when torture does not produce any answers. As Maya Angelou explained, “There’s a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth.” As the truth is revealed, readers will question who is the real “monster” of the story. The plot of the story stays fast-paced, upsetting until the very end. Recommended for grades 9 and up. 

Elizabeth Andersen, Librarian, Westbrook High School