Sky Bounce

by Deanna Miller

Two secret friends from enemy races find their friendship tested and intensified into love when they're forced into opposite sides of an interdimensional and interplanetary struggle between fear and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0972542418
• ISBN13: 9780972542418
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Deanna Miller
• Length: 210 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.0" x 0.8" x 4.3"
• Age Range: 10 to 18 years

Customer Reviews

A Delightful Tale

Although this is a story for young readers, I found it to be very entertaining. Hesper and Tristan should not be friends. They come from different planes. Yet their friendship is so strong that they band together to save the parallel planes of existence from possible destruction. The author has created a delightful tale of fantasy and mystery. It is a well-written story with a mythological essence. The characters are brought to life by the excellent use of visual images. The reader is taken on an enjoyable escape to another place. There are many subtle messages that shine through. The messages of trust, loyalty, love, friendship and the need to have faith are necessary for our younger readers to hear. I would highly recommend this book for young readers between the ages of 10-16.

Inspirational YA is good for kids and adults alike...

"Sometimes, when the sweet night air is gentle and quiet enough, I can hear the voices. Slowly they speak, their hushed whispers arising softly from nowhere, drifting back and forth, in and out of nothingness. Though I cannot understand what they say, I feel a strange sadness whenever I listen, for the voices are like the last pleas for hope sent by hopeless souls." Hesper hears these voices, though she is afraid to admit it to anyone except her best friend Tristan, for fear that she will be shunned. Tristan hears the voices, too. But Tristan is already shunned by his kind - the Mantaurs - so he has no one to share the information with anyway. Each night, when Hesper can manage to sneak out, the two friends share their thoughts and dreams as they sky-bounce through the skymounts and across the spongy ground of the Alula plane. Hesper is an Alula, a winged girl, living on the Alula plane of existence. She's being taught, as are all of the other Alulas in her flit, that there are several planes of existence, each plane having a different awareness of the Great Alula. She's also being taught that she may soon have a chance to see how others, on different planes, live and believe. She, and all of the other in her flit, know that they may be Sent at any time. Hesper lives in fear of being Sent. Her mother was Sent to another plane when Hesper was a small child, never to be seen or heard from again. Tristan, the Boytaur, is ever-adventurous, though, and he urges Hesper to take him to the place where the Sendings occur. While there, the two are spotted by an Alula, and Hesper's worst fears come to fruition. She is to be Sent! Tristan can do nothing to stop the Alulas, nor can Hesper, and soon she is living on another plane of existence - the human plane. Though she is reunited with her beloved mother, Hesper remembers nothing of her other existence as a winged girl, or of sky-bouncing with the Boytaur. Tristan is the only one who can help her, and it takes him a long while to figure out how to ride the interplane to the human plane. Ms. Miller has written a truly unique book in SKY BOUNCE. Not only is the storyline imaginative and fun, but it has a spiritual message that is greatly needed by the youth of today. The underlying spiritual tones of SKY BOUNCE tell of an existence greater than can be imagined, greater than what we can see, hear, smell and feel everyday - the existence of God. The characters walk young adults through situations that young people face everyday: drugs, peer pressure, good and bad choices, making friends, and just living life. The characters deal with these situations with help from God and the Bible. These lessons are woven into the story so artfully that the strong message of faith comes across as subtle and uncomplicated - which is a perfect approach for a Young Adult book. Ms. Miller's writing style is such that this book is an interesting and enjoyable read, her characters are strong and

Delightful and Different

Sky Bounce is a wonderful story of friendship that crosses the limits of ignorance, questions our thinking and ventures a little romance. Hesper an Alula, and the people of her kind, share the Alula plane with the Mantaurs. The Alula's inhabit the skymounts, the Mantaurs dwell on the land below, and for their own safety, the Alula's are forbidden to travel to the land below them. Hesper ignores this rule when she befriends Tristan, a Boytaur. Together they sky bounce using Hesper's wings and Tristan's strong legs, and a lifelong friendship is born. All is not well however on the Alula plane, for the parallel planes that run alongside it are changing. Each plane relies on one another to exist and the Alula's, facing possible destruction; send Hesper to the human plane to help. Sadly, the very process of sending causes Hesper to lose her memory of everything, including Tristan. Tristan cannot forget Hesper so easily and although he endangers himself, he finds a way to travel the interplane and find Hesper in the human world. Although Hesper doesn't remember Tristan, something inside her tells her that she knows him and together they return to the Alula plane where they seek out the problems that could cause the planes' downfall. Deanna Miller has created an appealing fantasy world whose spirit closely echoes our own. In this world, the main characters are faced with what we ourselves face daily, difficulty, a lack of understanding, and the need to put aside our differences and come together to reach a common goal. The book is aimed towards intermediate through young adult readers, ages 10-18 years, but as an adult, I found this book a wonderful escape, with an adventurous appeal that would indeed please any age. Deanna Miller's Sky Bounce, is a "...what happens next?" book. Children and young adults will love throwing themselves into this story and when the very last page is read - probably with some sadness, I'm very certain that they'll be bellowing for the sequel.

BOOKIDEAS.COM Book Reviewer Marie Jones says:

I just finished reading a wonderful young adult fantasy novel called "Sky Bounce." The writer is Deanna Miller, author of "Time to Tell `Em Off! A Pocket Guide to Overcoming Peer Ridicule." "Sky Bounce" is geared towards intermediate and young adult readers, ages 10 through 18, and will most likely appeal to girls. But this wonderful tale of friendship between two very different beings kept me entranced and I could not put it down once I started reading it...and I am in my 40's! "Sky Bounce" tells the story of two young creatures, the beautiful and winged Alula girl Hesper, and her friend the half-human half-horse Boytaur named Tristan. They live in a world where females, the Alula's, and males, the Boytaurs and Mentaurs, are kept away from each other for the most part, and Tristan and Hesper's friendship is frowned upon, to put it mildly. Not only are their gender differences a problem, but their "race" differences are as well. Alulas and Boytaurs are NOT supposed to be pals in this world! But their attraction to and respect for each other is solid and unyielding, and is much of the fun tension that underlies this story, and when Hesper is called upon to travel into a parallel plane to save the fate of her own world, nothing can keep Tristan from following her, even if the danger to both of them is great. The story picks up on good old Earth, with our two heroes as high schoolers with a mission to save all of the planes of existence. The catch here is that Hesper's memory has been erased, yet she still has a feeling she knows Tristan from somewhere... Once Hesper and Tristan return back to their own plane, the story really heats up as Tristan and his kind are accused of causing the terrible destruction occurring on Earth and slipping over into the other planes of existence. But Hesper doesn't believe this, and she puts her entire trust in her friend, Tristan, even when the truth of his own identity is enough to send her running in fear. It is their battle to prove to the Alula Council that Tristan and his fellow creatures are free from guilt before the Council sets about the destruction of Tristan's home plane that drives the rest of the story. This book works great on two levels, with one level of superb fantasy story telling fusing seamlessly into the fun romantic tension that propels the two character's behavior. It is perfect for teenagers, and pretty enjoyable for us adults yearning for the innocence and power of first love, and I was caught up in Hesper and Tristan's search for acceptance of their growing friendship. I also really loved the powerful spiritual undertones. This book is about more than just two friends living in a world different than our own. It is about prejudiced and fear, and how our misconceptions and misunderstandings of people who are different from us can often lead to violence and destruction. What a perfect and timely message to convey to kids, with our own country struggling to find its place in a world fille

Excellent read

The story is very well written and keeps the readers interest, yet it is not very difficult to understand, so it is best suited to young teens.... The story is centred on a group of creatures (Alulas and Mantuars) from a different 'dimension' or 'plane' as they term it, and how something happens that changes the lives of the main characters and leads to a challenge to save all the dimensions from destruction. This story is fairly unique and well thought out, the plot is not exactly complicated, but fits together nicely. Its generally a mildly romantic adventure story, I highly recommend it!