Blackfin Sky

by Kat Ellis

Overview

YALSA 2015 Popular Paperbacks Finalist for Mysteries: Murder, Mayhem, and Other Adventures

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Just like any other morning, Skylar Rousseau is late for school, but when she is greeted by a blanket of silent stares upon entering Blackfin High, she discovers that the whole town thought she fell from the pier and drowned on her sixteenth birthday three months earlier. However, Sky remembers the last three months living her life as normal, and since she is a full, living breathing human being, she has no idea whose body is buried underneath her tombstone. Everyone seems reluctant to help except her steadfast friend and crush, Sean . . . and a secretive man who draws her to a mysterious circus in the woods.

Sky must wade through impossibilities and lies to discover the truth about what happened to her, which proves to be a bit difficult when someone is following her every move with the intent to harm her. And Sky's only hope of finding the answers she seeks may have already been turned to ashes.

Just like any other morning, Skylar Rousseau is late for school, but when she is greeted by a blanket of silent stares upon entering Blackfin High, she discovers that the whole town thought she fell from the pier and drowned on her sixteenth birthday three months earlier. However, Sky remembers the last three months living her life as normal, and since she is a full, living breathing human being, she has no idea whose body is buried underneath her tombstone. Everyone seems reluctant to help except her steadfast friend and crush, Sean . . . and a secretive man who draws her to a mysterious circus in the woods.
Sky must wade through impossibilities and lies to discover the truth about what happened to her, which proves to be a bit difficult when someone is following her every move with the intent to harm her. And Sky's only hope of finding the answers she seeks may have already been turned to ashes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762455546
Publisher:	Running Press Book Publishers
Publication date:	09/02/2014
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	319,057
Lexile:	860L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Kat Ellis grew up immersed in ancient myths about dragons and giants, and spending most of her time getting into trouble while exploring the local cemetery. Blackfin Sky is her debut novel. Ellis lives in Denbighshire, North Wales.

Editorial Reviews

10/01/2014
Gr 9 Up—Sixteen-year old Skylar Rousseau is late to class, which is no surprise. The real surprise comes when she's told by her shocked friends and family that she's been dead for more than three months. Skylar is adamant that this is all a practical joke and that she remembers the past 97 days just fine—then she begins having dreams of lying with her own dead body in a coffin. Ellis creates a tone that is playful yet eerie, drawing readers into the oddities of the town of Blackfin one bit at a time. It becomes evident that Sky's life has always been peppered with the occult, from the way her home (enigmatically called Blood House) seems to speak to her in code, or how she sees faces in the wooden panels of her wall. As she tries to solve the mystery of her own disappearance, the protagonist starts unraveling a dark past that threatens to change life in Blackfin forever. The town residents are a colorful bunch, and Ellis deftly captures teenage dynamics and mannerisms while maintaining each character's trademark eccentricity. The work ends with an explosive resolution, alongside plenty of questions and tales to be explored. Readers are left satisfied yet hopeful for a continuation of Sky's journey. This page-turner is sure to keep teens who love spooky sleuth novels up well into the night.—Ashleigh Williams, School Library Journal

School Library Journal

With convincing logic and a thrilling pace, Ellis spins out a vivid and eloquent tale in which the borders between past and present, experience and memory, and even life and death are porous. Each smart and well-rounded character, even the enigmatic adults, contributes cleverly to Ellis' purposeful plot. Hand this well-wrought mystery to fans of Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle series and E. Lockhart's rich writing.”
—Booklist

"Fans of Lisa McMann and Gail Giles will welcome this debut thriller that immediately grabs readers with an intriguing premise."
—Kirkus Reviews

“The book is so fast paced and engaging that readers will have a hard time putting it down. Fans of Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys trilogy will enjoy this great tale.”
—VOYA

“This page-turner is sure to keep teens who love spooky sleuth novels up well into the night.”
—School Library Journal

“[T]he dialogue-driven text might particularly appeal to readers of fast-paced, plot-driven thrillers.”
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

From the Publisher

Blackfin Sky is an interesting, if slightly confusing, twist on the idea of multiple realities and superhuman abilities. This book has a little something for everyone, as the main character, Sky, dances her way through a magnetic relationship and many different versions of the past. Despite the well-paced action and steady stream of revelations, Blackfin Sky may become confusing as Sky faces off against mind-bending antagonist Gage. Reviewer: Eric DuBois, Teen Reviewer; Ages 12 to 18.

VOYA, October 2014 (Vol. 37, No. 4) - Eric DuBois

Skylar Rousseau has always lived in Blackfin, a seaside town named for the whales that pass by. Not many people come here, and that is how the locals like it. The town and its folks have many quirks, but no one can explain how it is that, although Skylar died on the night of her sixteenth birthday when she fell off the pier and was buried, she has returned three months later with no recollection of where she has been during that time. Aided by her friends, Sky discovers that she is a Pathfinder. Blackfin’s secrets have been protecting a horrible truth, and no one is talking about it. Sean becomes her anchor, and he is the only one Sky can use to guide her travels through the Pathways. In a race against time, Sky must find what Gage, an ancient enemy of her parents, wants and how she can thwart his desires to save the lives of those she loves. Can she find the right path? Ellis’s debut novel is well paced and features a central mystery surrounded by many tales that intertwine and eventually connect seamlessly at the book’s climax. The main characters are well rounded, and even the supporting cast is believable in demeanor and actions. The book is so fast paced and engaging that readers will have a hard time putting it down. Fans of Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Boys trilogy will enjoy this great tale. Reviewer: Etienne Vallee; Ages 12 to 18.

VOYA, October 2014 (Vol. 37, No. 4) - Etienne Vallee

2014-07-01
If Sky didn't die like everyone says, then where has she been for the last three months? Blackfin has always been a small, odd town. Even so, its residents still wonder how Skylar returned when everyone knows she fell off the pier and drowned on her 16th birthday. They even saw her corpse pulled from the water and later buried. No one wonders more, however, than Sky herself, especially since she recalls a different version of the events. Fans of Lisa McMann and Gail Giles will welcome this debut thriller that immediately grabs readers with an intriguing premise. When Sky's parents seem reluctant to answer her questions, she seeks help from some unusual sources: her boyfriend, whom she may or may not have kissed the night she "died"; her mechanic father's apprentice, who's also the town's only newcomer in years; the old gypsy woman in the woods; and even her own home, known as the Blood House as it was once a butcher shop…and possibly more. As Sky slowly discovers her family's and town's mysteries, she also realizes her own remarkable gift. Perhaps so too does a villain, drawn to her power for his own evil intentions. The plot-driven ending is less effective than the atmospheric beginning and suspenseful buildup of events, but by then, readers are already hooked. Overall, a satisfying thriller. (Supernatural thriller. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews