Jordie and Joey Fell from the Sky

by Judi Lauren

Overview

Twin brothers Jordie and Joey have never met their parents.
Maybe it’s because they aren’t from this planet?

When another kid at school tried to force Jordie to show him the “crop circles” on his back that prove he’s an alien, it was Joey who took the kid to the ground. And when the twins got kicked out of their foster home because Joey kissed the other boy who lived there, it was Jordie who told him everything would be okay. And as long as Jordie and Joey are together, it will be. But when the principal calls their current foster mother about a fight at school, the boys know she’ll be done with them. And, from spying in their file, they also know they’re going to be separated.

Determined to face the world side by side rather than without one another, Jordie and Joey set off to find their birth parents. From Arizona to Roswell to Area 51 in the Nevada desert, the twins begin a search for where they truly belong. But Jordie’s about to discover that family isn’t always about the ones who bring you into the world, but the ones who help you survive it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631635816
Publisher:	North Star Editions
Publication date:	04/19/2022
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	8 - 13 Years

About the Author

Judi Lauren has been reading since she could first hold a book. Following her passion for working with books, she became an assistant editor at Entangled Publishing, and is now an editor at Radish Fiction. When not editing, she writes books for kids and teens about family, friendship, and surviving impossible things.

Editorial Reviews

"Twin protagonists make a winning double bill in a story about alienation and aliens." —Kirkus Reviews

"This title...calls attention to the situations encountered by children in the foster home system and the real need for children to belong to a family who will accept them as they are." —School Library Connection

[T]he close brotherly bond...will really stick with young readers. This fast-paced story of twin brothers on an adventure to find aliens has plenty of emotional resonance." —School Library Journal

"A definite page-turner, full of action and emotion, with a message about the meaning of family." —Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher

04/01/2022

Gr 4–6—Jordie and Joey are twin brothers who have been through a lot together, including being left in the middle of a crop circle as babies, and then going through 19 foster homes that didn't always provide the most loving care. They both have mysterious marks on their backs that Jordie is convinced are the same marks seen in crop circles; he believes they are descendants of aliens that landed in 1947. Joey is less convinced, but follows his brother as they run away to find answers about their past. A new friend joins them on their impulsive adventure where they get into plenty of trouble, some of which strains credibility. Joey starts to wonder whether his brother is using the idea of aliens to distract himself from the truth of their abused and neglected childhood. Joey is also trying to sort out his identity as he grapples with his feelings towards another boy. The formatting and short chapters help keep the pacing quick; interspersed throughout are excerpts from online blogs like "Calum's Guide to Extraterrestrials." However, the close brotherly bond is what will really stick with young readers. VERDICT This fast-paced story of twin brothers on an adventure to find aliens has plenty of emotional resonance.—Carrie Shaurette

School Library Journal

2022-01-11
Twelve-year-old twin foundlings slip away from their 19th foster home to investigate their mysterious origins.

Jordie, slightly younger than his brother chronologically but reading as significantly more so developmentally, is sure that they are aliens since they were found as infants in a crop circle, bear odd scars down their backs, and he, at least, has no memories before age 7. Also, they never seem to fit in anywhere…though at least they’ve always had each other. A terrifying hint that they may have to be separated in order to find permanent foster homes drives Jordie to drag his reluctant but fiercely protective brother, Joey, into a search for the truth about their parentage. First stop: Roswell, New Mexico, to interview UFO experts and abductees. Expediting her perceptive articulation of the twins’ complex webs of trust and doubt, dependency and independence, Lauren adds Nadia, an observant classmate who tags along on what becomes a series of mishaps and revelations over the course of long, exhausting walks and bus rides. As a tease, the author also lets readers wonder whether this is science fiction or not right up to the climax—which begins with an attempt to sneak into Area 51—and goes on, after a wrenching reveal, to end with a promise of hope. The main cast seems to be White. Joey is attracted to boys, something Jordie implicitly accepts, although Joey’s openness about his sexuality is evolving.

Twin protagonists make a winning double bill in a story about alienation and aliens. (Fiction. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews