Review -- "The Girl Who Fell From The Sky"

The debut novel by Heidi Durrow explores issues of race and culture as she tells the story of Rachel who goes to live with her paternal grandmother after her mother and two siblings tragically fall to their death from atop of the Chicago housing project where they lived.

Rachel is biracial and bi-cultural: her Danish mother is white and her American father is black. However, Rachel does not know she is black until she comes to live with her black grandmother in Portland, Oregon, and everyone around her defines who she should be. Rachel reflects on her first day at school: "I am light-skinned-ed. That's what the other kids say. And I talk white. I think new things when they say this," and "I learn that black people don't have blue eyes. I learn that I am black. I have blue eyes. I put all of these facts into the new girl."

The book is written from the first person perspective of Rachel, but the story alternates with views from Brick, a boy who mistakenly thought Rachel's brother was a bird when he "fell from the sky."  Brick travels from Chicago to Portland to relay a message to Rachel from her father who has abandoned her after the tragedy. The reader gets a glimpse into the mind of Rachel's mother, Nella, through the writings in her diary, which shed some light on what drove her to the roof to commit an unspeakable act for a mother. There is also the perspective of Laronne, a black woman who is Nella's boss, who is notified about the family tragedy.  Durrow presents well developed perspectives from Rachel, Nella and Brick, however, Laronne's character is one-dimensional, flat and not developed.  In fact, it detracts more than it adds to the story. 

Rachel endures a painful journey as she struggles for self-identity. It is a journey that apparently neither her mother or father had prepared her for nor could they handle themselves. For example Rachel's mother Nella writes in her diary of Rachel's father Roger, "Roger was never black. He was charming and fun and handsome," "When he said but you cannot be pregnant, we cannot get maried, and when I said why not he said cause you are white and I am not. I did not know that was a problem."

However, Rachel learns that race is a problem, and the black girl with the blue eyes does not fit neatly into any group. She has no friends as the black girls don't like her and tell her she acts like she is white. The white kids see her as black. Boys see her as "exotic" including a white boyfriend who calls her his "mocha" girlfriend and states "you're different anyway, you know? It's like you're black but not really black." Her loneliness and isolation often leads her to confuse love with sex, and her grandmother warns her to leave the men alone as "they don't know what you're worth." She also tries to hang onto her Danish culture by remembering snippets of the language. However, she laments "I don't want being Danish to be something that I can put on and take off." Throughout the book, Rachel strives to be a "whole" person made up of her separate and distinct parts.

Durrow's writing is eloquent with great dialogue. The characters often speak in few words, but convey deep meaning and understanding of the issues they grapple with in their daily lives as they navigate the minefield of race in America.

Everyone seems to have a plan for her future, but as Rachel brilliantly states in those dreams, "there's a low sky." The book ends with Rachel's realization that "I'm not the color of my skin. I'm a story. One with a past and a future unwritten."

The message of the book transcends race, culture and gender.  The lesson for everyone is do not let others define you, but strive to be the person you want to be.