When Kambia Elaine Flew in from Neptune
From AwardAnnals
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| Author(s) | Lori Aurelia Williams |
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| Publisher | Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing |
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| Shayla Dubois lives in a Houston neighborhood known as the Bottom, where life is colorful but never easy. She wants only two things out of life: to become a writer and to have a nice, peaceful home. Instead, her life has been turned upside down. Shayla’s mama kicked her sister, Tia, out of the house for messing around with an older guy, and months later Tia still hasn’t come home. Shayla’s father, Mr. Anderson Fox, has rolled back into town and has been spending a lot of time at the house with Mama. And Shayla still doesn’t know what to make of her strange new… | |
Shayla Dubois lives in a Houston neighborhood known as the Bottom, where life is colorful but never easy. She wants only two things out of life: to become a writer and to have a nice, peaceful home. Instead, her life has been turned upside down. Shayla’s mama kicked her sister, Tia, out of the house for messing around with an older guy, and months later Tia still hasn’t come home. Shayla’s father, Mr. Anderson Fox, has rolled back into town and has been spending a lot of time at the house with Mama. And Shayla still doesn’t know what to make of her strange new neighbor, Kambia Elaine.
Kambia tells Shayla the most fantastic stories: that the Lizard People turn into purple chewing gum when the sun comes up; that Memory Beetles gather up and store people’s good memories; that she is a piece of driftwood from the Mississippi River. All Shayla knows for sure is that Kambia’s mother has a lot of male visitors and that Kambia doesn’t look too healthy. When Kambia tells Shayla about the vicious Wallpaper Wolves that hide in her walls to catch bad little girls, Shayla knows something is wrong. But she doesn’t know how she can help Kambia when she can’t get past her stories, and when Tia still hasn’t come home.
Told lyrically and gracefully by debut author Lori Aurelia Williams, When Kambia Elaine Flew in from Neptune shows how complicated life can get when children are forced to grow up too quickly, while it also celebrates the bonds of a strong, loving family.
Honors
Reviews
Amazon.com
Kambia Elaine has told Shayla how afraid she is of the Wallpaper Wolves. “They live in the wallpaper… they have five-inch fangs, fiery red eyes, purple horns, long sharp claws, and spiky gray fur… they whisper horrible, nasty things in your ear… then they make you do them.” Kambia is Shayla’s next door neighbor and friend, but Shayla doesn’t have the time to listen to Kambia’s fanciful imaginings about Memory Beetles, Lizard People, or even the fearful Wallpaper Wolves. She has her own trouble brewing at home. Between her older sister Tia running away after a heated argument with their mother, and her no-good father, Mr. Anderson Fox, nosing around the neighborhood, Shayla has her hands full. But she’s noticed the real bruises and blood on Kambia’s legs that come from the fictitious Wallpaper Wolves, and knows that, despite her own problems, she has to get to the bottom of Kambia’s dark imagination and find the truth behind her stories. When Kambia begs her not to tell anyone about her injuries, Shayla has to make some hard decisions about the differences between telling the truth and protecting a friend.
First-time author Lori Aurelia Williams has written a novel that eloquently ties together the importance of family, the power of imagination, and the simple strength of innocence. Although Williams takes her time telling this sweetly sad tale, teens will be so caught up in Kambia’s creative imagination and Shayla’s strong voice that they will quickly move through its 200-plus pages. (Ages 12 to 18) —Jennifer Hubert
