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80 pages 2 hours read

Glendy Vanderah

Where the Forest Meets the Stars

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

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Chapters 1-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary

Joanna “Jo” Teale is a graduate student renting a cottage in the woods. She hasn’t been there long. She’s completing research for her doctorate, specializing in ornithology. Jo spends most days trudging through the woods for her research. As she returns to her property one night, she spots a girl near the driveway. The girl looks about nine years old and has a pale face with dark eyes. She’s in pajamas and no shoes, so Jo assumes she lives nearby.

The girl was trying to pet a stray dog on Jo’s property. Jo tells the girl to go home and goes inside to prepare dinner. While Jo cooks over the fire pit out back, the girl reappears, looking hungry.

Jo and the girl talk. Jo wants the girl to go home, but the girl insists she has no home, saying she’s an alien from a planet somewhere in the Pinwheel Galaxy, within Ursa Major. Jo thinks the girl’s pretending and continues to pressure her to go home. The girl claims she took her human body from a dead girl and doesn’t know the dead girl or her family. Jo threatens to call the police, adding that they’ll find her parents. The girl asks what happens when the parents say their daughter is dead. Growing frustrated, Jo says the girl will be put in a mean foster home.

The dog approaches because Jo has been feeding him dinner scraps. The girl tries to pet him, but he won’t come closer. Jo thinks the girl’s afraid to go home. Frustrated that Jo won’t believe her, the girl steps away from the fire, raises her arms, and recites a chant in an alien language. She explains that it’s a salutation to home. She says she’s on Earth to witness five miracles—but not Biblical miracles, like Jo thinks. It’s a rite of passage for her kind. The girl says Jo and the dog are miracles because everything on Earth is new to her. She won’t count them in her five miracles, however, because she’s waiting for something good.

Jo offers to cook a turkey burger for the girl. The girl doesn’t know what that is, but she’s excited about it, especially when Jo puts cheese on it. The girl says she heard some things about Earth before arriving from her planet, Hetrayeh, including the wonders of cheese and marshmallows. Jo fetches marshmallows for the girl but insists she eat her dinner first. The girl claims she hasn’t eaten since she left her planet the previous day but offers her last bite to the hungry dog.

The girl says her alien name sounds “kind of like Earpood-na-ahsroo” (8). Jo wants to call the police, but the girl threatens to run away, so Jo changes strategies, deciding to gain the girl’s trust. The girl names the dog Little Bear, after Ursa Minor. She enjoys the marshmallows while Jo goes inside to wash dishes. When Jo returns, the girl and Little Bear have bonded in mutual trust.

The girl asks Jo questions about her home, her work, and her research. Jo explains what a PhD is and then declares she needs to get up early, so the girl should go home. Jo tries one last time to get the girl to explain herself, but the girl insists she’ll be fine. She and the dog disappear into the woods.

Chapter 2 Summary

The next morning, Jo doesn’t see the girl outside, so she assumes the girl has left. After a day of research, Jo heads home a little early. She hasn’t slept well since her mother’s recent death from cancer. On the way back, Jo passes Egg Man, a young, bearded man who sells eggs by the road.

When Jo gets home, the girl reappears, still barefoot and wearing pajamas. Jo becomes distressed, asking the girl why she’s here. The girl sticks to her story, insisting she’ll leave once she’s seen five miracles. Jo threatens to call the police, but the girl says she’ll find another house. Worried about the girl encountering bad people, Jo offers to make the girl scrambled eggs, thinking she hasn’t eaten since the turkey burger. The girl agrees.

Jo drives up the road to Egg Man’s stand to buy a dozen. Before leaving, Jo explains the situation with the girl. Egg Man, who is Jo’s neighbor, doesn't recognize the girl by Jo’s description. Jo says that the girl seems very smart for her age and explains her concerns about calling the police. Egg Man offers to come over and help Jo. Worried he’ll scare the girl, Jo tells him to wait a few minutes and bring the eggs.

At home, Jo tells the girl that Egg Man had to get more eggs and will bring them soon. When Egg Man arrives, he turns his attention to the girl, asking if she lives nearby. The girl is onto their plot and declares that she knows Jo told him to ask that. Egg Man asks what the girl is doing in her pajamas. She replies that the girl whose body she’s in was wearing these clothes when she died.

Egg Man introduces himself to Jo as Gabriel Nash. He asks the girl’s name. The girl explains she’s from the Pinwheel Galaxy. Gabriel has seen this galaxy through his telescope. The girl explains her purpose on Earth is like Jo’s schooling—she’s here to understand humans. She clarifies that five miracles means five things that amaze her. Afterwards, she’ll return home and tell her stories.

Jo asks the girl to put the eggs inside. The girl is happy to enter Jo’s house but knows Jo and Gabriel plan to discuss her. She warns them not to say anything mean. Jo and Gabriel discuss the girl’s intelligence. When she returns, Gabriel tells her she’s too smart to think she’s convinced them she’s an alien. The girl says something in her alien language, then translates it for them. She compares herself to a PhD student again, using that logic to convince them that she deserves to stay on Earth and complete her studies. When she asks Gabriel if he’s getting a PhD, Gabriel gets upset and leaves. Jo takes the girl inside to bathe and eat.

Chapter 3 Summary

Jo takes a quick shower first. While the girl showers, Jo walks outside to call the sheriff’s non-emergency line. She tells them there’s a homeless child who needs help and gives directions to her house. Little Bear watches her. Jo returns inside just in time to find the girl wrapped in a towel in the living room. The girl is suspicious of Jo, but Jo says she heard something outside.

Noticing purple marks on the girl’s throat and arm, as well as scrapes on her legs, Jo asks what happened. The girl says the body was this way when she got it. Jo thinks the girl is covering up abuse. The girl gets upset with Jo for not believing her, so Jo drops the subject. She gives the girl some clothes and makes eggs. When the girl finishes eating, she asks to feed the dog. Jo gives her some leftovers to serve Little Bear.

They settle on the couch. Jo tries again to get information out of the girl about her home life or real name. The girl doesn’t want to talk because Jo won’t believe her. Jo thinks the girl’s afraid. The girl asks to sleep on the couch. Seeing that she looks unwell, Jo agrees to let the girl stay. The girl asks about Jo’s studies and is surprised to learn about Jo’s bird research. The girl thought most Earth women worked as waitresses or teachers. She wants to look at bird nests with Jo.

When the police pound on the door, the girl knows she’s been tricked. Although Jo tries to reassure her, the girl bolts out the backdoor. Jo lets the deputy inside and explains the situation, omitting the girl’s alien story. The officer seems nonchalant. He doesn’t know of any missing children in the area and doesn’t try to search the property. He tells the story of his childhood friend who was removed from a mother with alcohol addiction. The friend ended up in a foster home with abusers and died from a drug overdose at 15.

Jo thinks the officer is biased. The officer doesn’t want to “pull that girl outta the pan and drop her into the fire” (31). Jo escorts him out.

Chapter 4 Summary

Jo unsuccessfully searches for the girl before going to bed. It rains that night. Jo wakes around two o’ clock. It’s her late mother’s birthday. Restless, she goes to the bathroom and grapples with her appearance in the mirror. She’s in recovery from her own cancer treatment. Her hair is still short, and her face is thin. She wonders whether she’ll always feel like two versions of herself: the person before treatment and the person after.

In the morning, it’s still raining. Jo uses rainy days to catch up with laundry and data entry. She gathers her clothes and laptop. On the way out, she spots the girl hiding under a blanket on the porch. The girl says she’s bad at hiding her human body because her alien body looks “like starlight” (33).

The girl seems distressed. She and Little Bear have been sleeping in the shed out back, where Jo has thrown out an old mattress, now ruined by the rain. Jo invites the girl inside and makes her pancakes before leaving.

The laundromat is 40 minutes away in the closest town. While doing laundry, Jo calls her best friend, Tabby, who’s in the veterinary program at Jo’s college. Tabby reminds Jo that her doctors said to take it easy. Jo was out of the program for two years while receiving treatment for breast cancer and wants to catch up now. Jo tells Tabby it’s her mother’s birthday. They toast to Jo’s mother.

Jo’s advisor, Dr. Shaw Daniels, plans to visit today, along with several other graduate students, including Tanner, with whom Jo had a brief sexual relationship before her treatment. Jo doesn’t want to see him. She tells Tabby about the girl, but Shaw calls and cuts their conversation short.

Shaw and the other students will be there around 7:30pm. Jo volunteers to cook for everyone. When Jo gets home, the girl is gone. As Jo begins making pies, the girl returns. She says she hid because she thought Jo would bring the police again. Jo explains she’s having guests. The girl says she enjoyed Jo’s textbook. She says the girl whose body she took was very smart, so she uses the dead girl’s brain to do things. They make food together, using Jo’s mother’s recipes. The girl chooses her earth name: Ursa. Ursa asks about the beer in the fridge. Jo asks if Ursa has had bad experiences with alcohol. Ursa maintains that she just got here.

Chapter 5 Summary

After they eat lunch, Jo searches for missing children online to see if she can find Ursa, and Ursa enjoys more of Jo’s textbook. When the rain stops, Jo invites Ursa to check on nests with her, which excites Ursa. Jo explains how and why she records the nests, explaining about predators and the success chances of each nest.

They first nest they visit has been attacked by a raccoon. The birds and eggs are gone. As they travel to the next nest, Ursa asks if this one will be gone too. Jo explains her hypothesis about success for the nests in different locations. Ursa says she made her own hypothesis: If Jo didn’t return with the police after the laundromat, she wouldn’t call the police again. Jo is impressed by Ursa’s intelligence. She explains that Ursa can’t stay because she’s having company tonight. She wants to take Ursa home once they finish looking at nests. Ursa thinks Jo lied about her intentions. She says no house will recognize her and promises to leave once she’s witnessed five miracles.

At the next nest, the eggs have hatched. Ursa is so amazed by the baby birds that she declares it her first miracle. They visit several other nests. Jo teaches Ursa about different bird species. Ursa tries to stall as they reach the last few nests, stopping to admire rocks and beetles. At the last nest, Dr. Shaw’s car pulls up. They’re early. Tanner sits in the backseat with a woman named Carly. He looks guilty. Jo suggests they go inside and help themselves to beer. She introduces Ursa as a girl who lives nearby. They have one more nest to visit before joining the others. As they leave, Little Bear’s barking echoes from the house. Ursa promises to teach him not to bark. Jo instructs Ursa not to tell the group she’s an alien.

Chapter 6 Summary

That evening, all four of Jo’s colleagues ask how she’s been and insist she take it easy. They sit around the fire while Ursa catches fireflies. Jo’s been evading questions about Ursa.

When Jo goes to close her car’s windows, concerned about more rain, Tanner follows her. He’s a bit drunk. He apologizes for not visiting her in the hospital. She didn’t want anyone to see her anyway. Tanner compliments her on her recovery and asks if she plans to have reconstructive surgery. Jo has had both her breasts removed as well as her ovaries, just in case. Jo is satisfied with her flat chest. Tanner comments how her mother’s diagnosis at least saved Jo, since they share the same gene mutation that leads to cancer. Jo doesn’t like how much Tanner knows, realizing he and the rest of her colleagues have been talking about her. He pushes the issue about breast reconstruction until Jo snaps at him. She doesn’t think he sees her as a person anymore. She asks him to go find Carly and quit pretending they’re not together.

Jo walks into the woods to gather herself. When she reaches the creek, she’s crying. Ursa finds her and asks if she’s okay. Little Bear drinks creek water nearby. Jo says she’s fine, but Ursa doesn’t believe her. Ursa releases her fireflies and assures Jo she’s leaving now, vaguely implying she’s going home.

Chapters 1-6 Analysis

Chapters 1-6 establish the three main characters of the novel as well as the forest setting, which creates a sense of isolation that contributes to the way the plot unfolds. The narrative unrolls Jo’s character slowly. The only things the first chapter reveals about Jo are her living situation, her scientist parents, and her field of study. Still, these details paint a picture of Joanna Teale’s interests and mentality. When Ursa tells Jo she stole the body of a dead girl, Jo struggles to play along because she has “never been good with kids and make-believe games, even when she was as young as the girl herself” (3). Both of Jo’s parents are scientists, so she has a “double dose of analytical genes” (3). The book expands on Jo’s analytical nature when she explains that she’s a grad student studying for her PhD in her field of “bird ecology and conservation” (11). As part of her schooling, she’s renting a house that grad students often rent for research each summer to study birds in the woods.

As the chapters progress, the narrative reveals that Jo and her mother suffer from the same gene mutation, which led to breast cancer diagnoses for both. Jo is recovering from her treatment, but her mother didn’t survive. Jo’s battle with cancer helps introduce the theme Taking the Good with the Bad. When she speaks to Tanner, he remarks, “[A]t least your mom was diagnosed in time to save you” (55). Although Jo lost her mother to cancer, her diagnosis saved Jo’s life. Otherwise, Jo’s “cancer might not have been found until it was too late” (55). Jo’s recovery and the loss of her mother are important elements that influence her actions and motivations as the book moves forward. Because of her two years spent in treatment, Jo is working from dawn until dusk to make up for lost time. She had her breasts removed, as well as her ovaries, and her hair “still wasn’t long enough to pull back” (32). Because of these changes, Jo feels like she’s “two versions of herself living inside one body” (32), which she explains as “the old Jo” and “the new almost Jo” (32). This sense of duality parallels similar dualities in Ursa.

Ursa is somewhat of a mystery. She has an elaborate story about who she is and where she came from, but what she says is so fantastical, so unbelievable, that the adults who encounter her are certain it’s untrue. According to Ursa, she’s an alien from a planet in the Pinwheel Galaxy who’s come to Earth to witness five miracles. She explains, “[M]iracles [...] mean things that amaze me” (21). Her human body, she claims, is one she’s taken from a dead girl. Her real body looks “like starlight. It’s not exactly a body” (33). Ursa says she “[uses] the dead girl’s brain to do things, and she was smart” (41). In addition to the duality that Ursa explains—being able to use the dead girl’s brain while existing independently in her body—Ursa’s refusal to return to her home and obstinate maintenance of her story creates a sense of duality in how Jo perceives her. Although Jo recognizes that a girl with bruises on her neck, no shoes, and no home is in serious trouble, Ursa is strikingly intelligent and passionately asserts that what she told Jo about her alien origins is true. These dualities that exist within Ursa’s story and within Jo’s perception of Ursa create a sense of mystery about the character. Additionally, Ursa’s unusual intelligence mirrors Jo’s precocious analytical nature as a child.

The third main character, Gabriel Nash, also known as Egg Man, first appears in Chapter 2. Gabriel lives on the property next to Jo’s. He’s around Jo’s age, with light blue eyes and a bearded face. He’s “about six feet tall and muscular from daily hard work” (15). They become acquainted when Jo recruits his help in figuring out what to do with the mysterious child. Gabriel is set up to be Jo’s love interest. After shaking his hand, Jo realizes “she hadn’t touched a young man in two years” (20), resulting in her “[holding] on a little longer than she should, or maybe he did” (20). However, Jo doesn’t learn much about him before he exits the picture. During his conversation with Ursa, Gabriel gets angry. He “changed when the girl asked if he was getting a PhD” (23). This moment implies that higher education is a sore subject for Gabriel.

The forest setting establishes a tone of isolation for the narrative. Jo’s rental cottage is “perched on a hill facing the woods, its rear side open to a small prairie that was regularly burned by the owner to keep back the encroaching forest” (2). The nearest town is 40 minutes away, and “[c]onnecting to the internet [...] took more than seven minutes” (24). This isolated setting influences Jo’s decisions when it comes to handling Ursa. Jo reasons she’ll “call the police, and when the kid sees them coming, she runs, and who knows what happens to her?” (17). After this exact scenario plays out, Jo decides to change her approach to ensure the girl’s safety, so she invites Ursa in for pancakes. The forest setting heightens Jo’s sense of responsibility for Ursa.

These chapters leave off with Ursa vowing to go “where [Jo wants her] to go” (57) and disappearing into the dark woods, creating suspense about the girl’s fate in the forest.

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