After moving with his father to upstate New York, twelve-year-old Owen faces a lonely summer . . . until he meets a girl who may be a space alien. 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 Home. She plans to signal her parents to come pick her up in their spaceship. Owen agrees to help, and as he does, he feels happier than he has in a long time: his mother died a year and a half ago, and now he and his workaholic father live together like two planets on separate orbits, in a new house far from his friends. What will he do when Campion asks him to come with her into outer space, away from his lonely life on Earth? In this moving middle grade novel from Cynthia DeFelice, two friendless kids search the night sky for something to believe in―but discover that they've found what they need right here on Earth. “A beautifully written story of friendship, loyalty, and trust.” ― School Library Journal, Starred Review “DeFelice, as always, infuses her mystery story with heart and grounds it in details, so Owen, the natural setting, and (most of all) his companionable dog come to life.” ― The Horn Book “Owen's likable voice, the plot's quick pace and the science fiction overtones make this a winner.” ― Publishers Weekly “Owen's loneliness, his lingering feelings of loss over his dead mother and his relationship (or lack thereof) with his father are so realistically delineated.” ― Kirkus Reviews Cynthia DeFelice was 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 were nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award and listed as American Library Association Notable Children's Books and Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year, among numerous other honors. Cynthia was born in Philadelphia in 1951. As a child, she was always reading. Summer vacations began with a trip to the bookstore, where she and her sister and brothers were allowed to pick out books for their summer reading. “To me,” she said, “those trips to the bookstore were even better than the rare occasions when we were given a quarter and turned loose at the penny-candy store on the boardwalk.” Cynthia worked as a bookseller, a barn painter, a storyteller, and a school librarian. She and her husband lived in Geneva, New York. She died at age seventy-two in 2024. Signal By Cynthia DeFelice Square Fish Copyright © 2011 Cynthia DeFelice All right reserved. ISBN: 9780312617769 Chapter 1 “If I were an animal, what kind would I be? Well, that’s a really interesting question, Josie. I have a lot of favorites. Obviously, no animal is nobler than the dog.”      Josie, who is running ahead of me, glances back and gives me a knowing look.      “But I think I’d be a falcon. They can dive at speeds up to two hundred miles an hour. How cool would that be? Falcons fly and hunt wherever they please. They rule the sky.”      Josie gives a yip and takes off after a squirrel. Okay, I admit it, Josie’s my dog. I’m talking to my dog. Maybe it’s pathetic, but I don’t have anyone else to talk to.      And Josie’s terrific company, let me make that clear. I have great respect for dogs in general and Josie in particular. We got her when I was five, and she’s always been my best friend. Since we moved here when school ended in June, she’s my only friend.      Here is upstate New York, in what everybody calls the Finger Lakes region. That’s because there are eleven long, narrow lakes that look like skinny fingers. Most of them have Iroquois Indian names, like Seneca, Canandaigua, Keuka, and Cayuga. I can’t remember them all.      The lakes were made by glaciers during the Ice Age, but there’s an Iroquois legend that says they were formed when the Great Spirit reached down and pressed his hands into the earth. Which is kind of cool to think about, except I can’t help wondering if there’s another legend that explains why the Great Spirit had eleven fingers.      I like to picture those giant hands reaching down from the sky. In my mind, they’re always hairy, with five fingers on one hand and six on the other.      Anyway, I’m not saying I was Mr. Popularity at my old school, but I had buddies. I miss Kevin Bowen the most. He and I did practically everything together. We were known as “Owen and Bowen.” I’m Owen, obviously. Owen McGuire.      Take it from me, you don’t want to move at the end of the school year. Because then there you are in a new place where you don’t know anybody, and you’ve got the whole summer ahead of you.      We only