by Lilliam Rivera
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Oct 2021
272 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
Award-winning author Lilliam Rivera explores the haunting story of an alien invasion from the perspective of three Latinx teens.
Should you save a world that doesn't want to save you?
Pedro, Luna, and Rafa may attend Fairfax High School together in Los Angeles, but they run in separate spheres. Pedro is often told that he's "too much" and seeks refuge from his home life in a local drag bar. Luna is pretending to go along with the popular crowd but is still grieving the unexpected passing of her beloved cousin Tasha. Then there's Rafa, the quiet new kid who is hiding the fact that his family is homeless.
But Pedro, Luna, and Rafa find themselves thrown together when an extraterrestrial visitor lands in their city and takes the form of Luna's cousin Tasha. As the Visitor causes destruction wherever it goes, the three teens struggle to survive and warn others of what's coming--because this Visitor is only the first of many. But who is their true enemy--this alien, or their fellow humans?
Pura Belpré Honor-winning author Lilliam Rivera examines the days before a War of the Worlds-inspired alien invasion in this captivating and chilling new novel.
"Rivera offers an eerie, immersive page-turner that immediately grips readers in large part because of her skilled characterization that adds emotional richness to an engaging extraterrestrial mystery...An engrossing and exceptionally relevant pre-apocalyptic tale that begs for a sequel." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"[A] thought-provoking, genre-savvy work of speculative fiction...Sharp social commentary, on-point humor, and a tender exploration of grief add heart and depth to a novel that's just right for fans of Attack the Block." - Publishers Weekly
"Rivera portrays contemporary teenage life with empathy, using a mix of pop culture and social-justice politics to flesh out her characters." - Booklist
"More than just a riveting alien-invasion story, though, this novel deftly weaves commentary on colonialism, police violence, and racial injustice into the chaos, leaving the main characters to wonder if the only people worth saving may be one another. Early threads of friendship, meanwhile, bind the story, ultimately becoming the trio's salvation. The novel's end chooses hope and a moment of calm over easy human victory and aliens routed." - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"We Light Up the Sky is an unflinching look at a Los Angeles that already feels dystopian to marginalized communities. Rivera's expert hand guides science fiction and the contemporary lives of three teens in a race for survival." - Zoraida Córdova, award-winning author of Labyrinth Lost
"A marvelous story about how we are all being flung into the future unprepared, and have to hang together as best we can." - Kim Stanley Robinson, New York Times bestselling author
"Skillfully crafted and absorbing, We Light Up the Sky is a fresh, complex take on the alien invasion story. Deeply poignant, and not to be missed." - Amy Tintera, New York Times bestselling author
This information about We Light Up the Sky was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lilliam Rivera is an award-winning writer and author of the young adult novels Never Look Back, a Pura Belpré Honor winner; Dealing in Dreams, and The Education of Margot Sanchez, as well as the middle grade Goldie Vance series. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, and Elle, to name a few. Lilliam grew up in the Bronx and currently lives in Los Angeles.
Clytemnestra
by Costanza Casati
Madeline Miller's Circe meets Cersei Lannister in this propulsive and richly drawn debut.
Hotel Cuba
by Aaron Hamburger
A stunning novel about two Russian Jewish sisters, desperate to get to the U.S. but trapped in the hedonistic world of 1920s Havana.
30 Copies to Give Away!
Few writers paint three-dimensional characters with such verve and humanism.
―Booklist (starred review)
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
