Where the Forest Meets the Stars
After the loss of her mother and her own battle with breast cancer, Joanna Teale returns to her graduate research on nesting birds in rural Illinois, determined to prove that her recent hardships have not broken her. She throws herself into her work from dusk to dawn, until her solitary routine is disrupted by the appearance of a mysterious child who shows up at her cabin barefoot and covered in bruises. The girl calls herself Ursa, and she claims to have been sent from the stars to witness five miracles. With concerns about the child’s home situation, Jo reluctantly agrees to let her stay—just until she learns more about Ursa’s past. Jo enlists the help of her reclusive neighbor, Gabriel Nash, to solve the mystery of the charming child. But the more time they spend together, the more questions they have. How does a young girl not only read but understand Shakespeare? Why do good things keep happening in her presence? And why aren’t Jo and Gabe checking the missing children’s website anymore? Though the three have formed an incredible bond, they know difficult choices must be made. As the summer nears an end and Ursa gets closer to her fifth miracle, her dangerous past clo
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The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Recovering from cancer, southern Illinois ornithology grad student Joanna Teale is in a rented cabin doing fieldwork on indigo buntings when a small barefoot girl walks out of the woods at dusk.
It is fiction. Glendy Vanderah drew on her own experience as a wildlife biologist studying birds in southern Illinois for atmosphere, but the central plot and characters are invented.
Yes, parts of it. The book deals with grief and a child's trauma, but the arc moves toward healing and connection.
Where the Forest Meets the Stars was written by Glendy Vanderah, published in 2019 by Lake Union Publishing.
Where the Forest Meets the Stars is 327 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Where the Forest Meets the Stars takes most readers 5 to 7 hours to finish.
Where the Forest Meets the Stars is a standalone novel by Glendy Vanderah, not part of a series.
Where the Forest Meets the Stars is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.