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Signal
One day while running on the trail near his house in upstate New York, Owen McGuire meets a girl with startling green eyes and bloody cuts all over her body who seems to be utterly alone. Her name is Campion, after the wildflower that is an alien species in the area—alien meaning “from someplace else”—and Campion claims to come from someplace else entirely, a planet called...more
Hardcover, 160 pages
Published
September 1st 2009
by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
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2012 Nutmeg nominee for Children.
I really enjoyed Signal. I thought that the plot was original - at least for me - and the characters were interesting.
Signal follows the story of Owen - a new-to-the-area kid who spends his days exploring the Finger Lakes and hanging out with his (incredibly awesome) dog, Josie. During one of his runs through the woods, he and Josie come across some bloody strips of cloth. Further investigation eventually finds a girl living in an abandoned farmhouse. The girl,...more
I really enjoyed Signal. I thought that the plot was original - at least for me - and the characters were interesting.
Signal follows the story of Owen - a new-to-the-area kid who spends his days exploring the Finger Lakes and hanging out with his (incredibly awesome) dog, Josie. During one of his runs through the woods, he and Josie come across some bloody strips of cloth. Further investigation eventually finds a girl living in an abandoned farmhouse. The girl,...more
This is a short book, but it took me a few days to finish because I didn't have trouble putting it down. I think that 4th - 6th or young 7th graders will like it more than I did, because the suspense will work better for them. It's a boring and lonely summer for Owen in his new town in upstate NY. His mother died a little over a year ago, and his father is always busy at work. School hasn't started yet, and in this rural area there aren't many neighbors, so Owen is stuck with only his dog Josie...more
Here's a touching story for anyone who has ever fantasized about escaping to a place where one's problems would disappear. Owen is a lonely boy whose mother died recently in a car accident. He and his grieving father have moved to a new community in upstate NY, but there's very little connection between them. It's summertime and Owen has no friends yet --- other than his faithful dog. When he meets Campion, a mysterious girl with sparkling green eyes who is living in an abandoned house in the wo...more
Signal
Cynthia DeFelice
fantasy/realistic fiction
151 pages
March
Owen is a boy who has not been very close with his father ever since his mother died. He likes to jog in the woods with his dog, Josie. One day, they keep finding bloody pieces of cloth. The owner of the cloth is a girl about Owen's age who says she is an alien. Owen can't stand to leave her so he helps her build a signal for her family. When suspicions cause a lot of trouble for the pair. Will she ever get home?
I rated this book a t...more
Cynthia DeFelice
fantasy/realistic fiction
151 pages
March
Owen is a boy who has not been very close with his father ever since his mother died. He likes to jog in the woods with his dog, Josie. One day, they keep finding bloody pieces of cloth. The owner of the cloth is a girl about Owen's age who says she is an alien. Owen can't stand to leave her so he helps her build a signal for her family. When suspicions cause a lot of trouble for the pair. Will she ever get home?
I rated this book a t...more
2012 Nutmeg nominee for Children.
I really enjoyed Signal. I thought that the plot was original - at least for me - and the characters were interesting.
Signal follows the story of Owen - a new-to-the-area kid who spends his days exploring the Finger Lakes and hanging out with his (incredibly awesome) dog, Josie. During one of his runs through the woods, he and Josie come across some bloody strips of cloth. Further investigation eventually finds a girl living in an abandoned farmhouse. The girl...more
I really enjoyed Signal. I thought that the plot was original - at least for me - and the characters were interesting.
Signal follows the story of Owen - a new-to-the-area kid who spends his days exploring the Finger Lakes and hanging out with his (incredibly awesome) dog, Josie. During one of his runs through the woods, he and Josie come across some bloody strips of cloth. Further investigation eventually finds a girl living in an abandoned farmhouse. The girl...more
After the death of his mother, Owen and his dad move to upstate New York at the beginning of the summer. It's a terrible time to move to a new place because Owen doesn't know anyone, so he spends a lot of time alone. Then one day he's running with his dog Josie and he finds a girl named Campion hiding out in an abandoned house. Cam tells him that she's an alien who was left behind and is just waiting for the full moon when she can signal her parents to come and get her. Owen is instantly intrigu...more
Owen and his father have just moved into a new town, so Owen has no friends other than his dog for the summer. His father is always busy with work, and they don't communicate much since Owen's mother died in a car accident. One day while taking his dog, Josie, for a run, he meets a girl who is injured. She claims to be from another planet and waiting for her parents to come back to pick her up. Owen agrees to help her build a signal so they will know where to find her.
This is a quick read, but...more
This is a quick read, but...more
A boy, Owen McGuire, moves at the beginning of summer to upstate New York, so he doesn't have any friends or know anyone. He spends his days running along a trail near his home with his dog, Josie. One day on the trail, Josie picks up what appears to be a torn white t-shirt with blood on it. Owen searches for the "bloody guy" and discovers it to be a girl with a bleeding head wound and bloody slits up and down her arms. This girl, Campion, claims to be an alien stranded on Earth waiting for her...more
I picked this one up after reading a couple of other alien books ("Smekday" and "Doom Machine"). Owen has just moved to a new town in upstate New York following the death of his mother. He and his father are each trying to cope with the loss in their own way, his father by immersing himself in his work. So when Owen finds an injured girl hiding in an abandoned house, he is very curious about her story that she is from another planet and must build a signal so her parents can come retrieve her an...more
This is a slight read with a predictable ending, but I'll admit that I did want to keep reading. I loved Owen's character...such a good guy...caring...sensitive...strong...independent. I ached for his loss of his mother (without whose influence, he never would have believed Cam's alien story) and for his longing to become close to his workaholic father. Along with that and his dog, Josie, being his best friend, I was reminded of Opal in Because of Winn Dixie. This will be an easy book to book ta...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Apr 22, 2013
7mattc
added it
Signal by Cynthia C.DeFlice was a vey touching story because of his mothers passing. The young boy Owen who is very lonely, runs off to a place where he thinks that all his problems will disappear. When he runs off to this place he finds a girl who is living in an abandoned house. They became friends and that is Owens first friend. I think that this book was very good and the characters are very easy to get into almost like a TV series. I think overall this was a good book but was a little to ea...more
This story addresses something I have thought about since forever, which is the likelihood of there being other intelligent beings from another planet.
Owen, whose mother is dead (of course) and whose father never stops working (of course) is new to the Finger Lakes area of upstate NY. He finds a girl, cut up and bleeding in a remote and abandoned house. She tells him her name is Campion and that she is from another planet and was accidentally left behind when the US military got hip to their sp...more
Owen, whose mother is dead (of course) and whose father never stops working (of course) is new to the Finger Lakes area of upstate NY. He finds a girl, cut up and bleeding in a remote and abandoned house. She tells him her name is Campion and that she is from another planet and was accidentally left behind when the US military got hip to their sp...more
Nice quick read story about loneliness and neglect and the fantasizing about a more perfect world that occurs when you're in such a situation. I owuld have liked the author to have fleshed out some of the characters a little more, to have perfected the fantasy a little more, so that the ending would have had an even more forceful impact.
Some of the resolution is of course impossible in the real world, but kids won't know that. I think 4th-6th graders would like it.
Some of the resolution is of course impossible in the real world, but kids won't know that. I think 4th-6th graders would like it.
Owen is lonely, but while walking in the woods, he meets a girl who claims to be from outer space, from another planet. She’s waiting for her parents to come to pick her up. Turns out something else is true, but Owen doesn’t learn that almost till the end. Cameron has escaped from an abusive life and she’s trying to live her dream life, a place with no violence and no cruelty. The book has a happy ending.
This would most likely appeal to 5th to 7th graders. Much of it is about a sad, lonely little boy who lost his mom and has a difficult time communicating with his father. He meets a little girl whose story you want to believe, and the author does such a good job of pulling you in that you almost begin to hope there is life out there in the universe. I was a little disappointed in the rush ending.
The premise was pretty good, but I was not a huge fan of the execution. Nothing glaring but just not my favorite.
I did like that the possibility of Campion being an alien from another planet or merely a girl hiding from her real life was always open either way until the very end. Neither possibility was ruled in or out until the very last pages of the book
I did like that the possibility of Campion being an alien from another planet or merely a girl hiding from her real life was always open either way until the very end. Neither possibility was ruled in or out until the very last pages of the book
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This was my first book by Cynthis DeFelice and I loved it! Even though I figured out the ending about 1/3 of the way through, I really enjoyed the friendship that grew between Owen and Cam. They both needed something that they found in each other. I think it would make a great companion to The Magician's Elephant. Similar themes of hope and believing in the impossible.
A Nutmeg award finalist, Signal is the first novel that my daughter (10) finished in one sitting. I promised her I would read it before her book club met to discuss it, so we could talk about it. The story follows Owen as he and his dog spend the summer following his mother's death alone in a new town while his father works long hours as a CPA. Things get much more interesting though, when he meets someone even more out of place than himself: Campion, a young alien girl, stranded on Earth.
A good premise - Campion, the "alien" girl is waiting for her parents to return and enlists Owen's help. The reader is always sure that Campion has fabricated this story as an escape from her harsh reality. Meanwhile Owen believes her, perhaps he wants to believe her to overcome his own aloneness. The ending is neatly tied.
I thought this book was sweet but predictable. I might have given this book only 3 stars but my dyslexic 4th grader (boy) read this book 3 times last year. He loved it so much that he made me, his father, and his grandmother read it. So 4 stars because this book really appeals to it's target audience.
As a grown-up, I knew what was going to happen in this book before it happened. But it didn't make any difference in how much I enjoyed reading it. Despite the crop circles and talk of aliens, this really is just a wonderful story of friendship and families and finding a way to make your life work.
3.5 stars. I liked this book and as a science fiction fan I was a little unsure of the genre right up until the end. A fairly implausible plot (and I'm not talking space ships here), but it kept me guessing and reading right up to the end. As in DeFelice's Weasel the bad guy is truly evil.
Wavered between 2 and 3 stars on this, but went for 3 just because of the authenticity of the narrative voice, which is always a lovely thing to find. However, the story was a little bit one-note and predictable, and the ending was way too happily-ever-after.
I would have rated this higher except for the ending. I have a problem with books where everything is neatly and almost magically solved in the last few pages with everyone happy and no consequences for anyone. Until then it was a very good book.
this was very good! it kept me interested and I loved it! I read it in 6th grade for a project and it was short and very interesting. I couldn't put it down. It was a pretty easy read but it was pretty good :-)
Good. It's not a fresh new story line - basically an adolescent lit version of KPAX. However, its full of great metaphors and characterization. I particularly like the introduction of the "dog people."
Presented as a sci-fi book, it quickly turns into another troubled kid book. I knew where this was going to end up about one-third of the way in. Disappointing.
Predictable ending...I had my suspicions right from the start, but my students fell for it. Hook, line & sinker! I definitely enjoy this writer's style.
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Cynthia DeFelice is the author of many bestselling titles for young readers, including the novels Wild Life, The Ghost of Cutler Creek, Signal, and The Missing Manatee, as well as the picture books, One Potato, Two Potato, and Casey in the Bath. Her books have been nominated for an Edgar Allen Poe Award and listed as American Library Association Notable Children's Books and Bank Street Best Childr...more
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Dec 22, 2009 02:31pm