The Girl who Fell to Earth by Patricia Forde

Written by the newly-appointed Laureate na nÓg (Ireland’s Children’s Literature Laureate)

A gripping high-concept speculative middle-grade novel from the award-winning author of Bumpfizzle, the Best on Planet Earth and The List

Aria lives on a well-ordered planet whose people have eradicated illness and even death. Earth is their ‘shadow planet’ which they populated with humans centuries ago so they could study them and learn from their experiences.

Now the experiment is coming to an end and Aria must go to Earth with her scientist father to set off a train of events which will destroy its people. Brought up to believe that humans are inferior, Aria is shocked to discover that she is herself half human, and amazed to find that Earth-dwellers live life to the full and feel love for each other, even though they are mortal.

But once she understands this, how can she save them, and herself, from destruction?

Patricia Forde is from Galway on the west coast of Ireland. She has published several picture books in Irish and in English, and three novels for children with Little Island. The List was published by SourceBooks in the US, and Bumpfizzle the Best on Planet Earth was published in the US by Little Island in 2022 to strong critical acclaim. She has won two White Raven awards and has twice been shortlisted for the Children’s Books Ireland Book of the Year.

Patricia is married to Padraic and has two grown up children. She still lives in Galway, the best city in the world.