Fire from the Sky

by Moa Backe Åstot

Other authorsEva Apelqvist (Translator)
Hardcover, 2023

Description

Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. �nte's life has been steeped in Sami tradition. It is indisputable to him that he, an only child, will keep working with the reindeer. But there is something else too, something tugging at him. His feelings for his best friend Erik have changed, grown into something bigger. What would people say if they knew? And how does Erik feel? And Erik's voice just the push of a button away. �nte couldn't answer, could he? But how could he ignore it? Fire From the Sky is a sharp and intelligent story about heritage, family ties and age-old commitments to the past. But also about expectations, compassion, feelings that course through your body like electricity.

Publication

Levine Querido (2023), 216 pages

User reviews

LibraryThing member shirfire218
Fire From The Sky is a beautifully crafted, emotion packed LGBT YA novel. But I assure you, as an older adult, I too enjoyed this story immensely. It is a coming of age story of a young man with all the usual problems associated with the teen age years, but the massive complications added by the
Show More
awareness that you are falling in love with another boy. Further complicating matters for Ante is the fact that he is part of a Sami community, a tight knit group where family and tradition are everything; clinging to the bits of culture they have been left with after having so much stripped away from them by years of unethical practices perpetrated on them. Ante feels this loss of his people keenly and holds dear the Sami traditions.

The emotions and behavior of a teenager was depicted so realistically; the rebelliousness, the rude behavior to parents, the struggles in general--all of it was portrayed. Ante has to come to terms with the fact that he does not like girls and he stumbles along the way, hurting others, too. In his community, there is basically no tolerance for homosexuality which puts Ante in a nearly impossible situation. Amazingly, it is his bond with his grandmother that helps him break through his emotions and start to come to grips with the fact that he can be himself and love who he chooses.

I was drawn to this story because of the bits of the Sami cultural life described in it and I was not disappointed. I found those details to be fascinating and part of the storyline regarding the cultural aspects of the Sami was drawn from real events.

It was amazing to me that the story was still so full of beautiful elements and sailed along smoothly, and even poetically; because it is a translation. I generally steer away from translations unless it is a classic, because I have found that usually so much is lost in the translation. This story shone through even after translation.
Show Less

Awards

Printz Award (Honor — 2024)

Language

Original language

Swedish

Physical description

216 p.

ISBN

1646142489 / 9781646142484
Page: 0.4131 seconds