Joanna Teale is a graduate student doing research on nesting birds in rural Illinois. She is a recent cancer survivor, diligently working, until one day a mysterious girl shows up to her cabin, with torn clothing and covered with bruises. This girl calls herself Ursa and claims that she is an alien from a planet near the constellation Ursa Major; of course Joanna doesn't believe her, but she lets her stay, as her situation makes Ursa look like a child of abuse.

Joanna enlists the help of Gabe, her reclusive neighbor and egg delivery man to try to look into Ursa's past; what they find is unlike anything they've seen before...

This book was a light and quick read; the writing wasn't that great, but the story was fairly captivating and the characters were likable. Vanderah presents many strong messages about family and what constitutes a familial connection; she also discusses several ideas concerning trauma and the perspectives of children in traumatic experiences.

I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a light fiction read; this book didn't really present any novel insights, but was a fairly captivating passtime.

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