80 pages • 2 hours read
Where the Forest Meets the Stars
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Summary and Study Guide
Overview
Glendy Vanderah’s Where the Forest Meets the Stars (2019) is a magical realism novel that follows graduate student and cancer survivor Jo Teale after she finds a strange girl who claims to be an alien in the woods. The story explores themes of love and recovery as Jo builds a bond with the girl and forms a relationship with her socially anxious next-door neighbor. Vanderah’s debut novel, Where the Forest Meets the Stars made the bestseller lists of Amazon Charts, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.
This guide follows the first edition, the 2019 Lake Union Publishing paperback version of the novel.
Plot Summary
Graduate student Joanna (“Jo”) Teale is working on her doctorate in bird ecology and rents a cottage in the woods to complete her summer research. She’s two years behind schedule because she had to battle cancer, and is grieving the loss of her mother from the same cancer. One night, she sees a strange girl on the property, barefoot and wearing pajama bottoms, who claims she’s an alien inhabiting a dead girl’s body. Jo thinks the story’s invented but pities her and feeds her. The girl befriends a stray dog, whom she names Little Bear (after Unlock all 80 pages of this Study Guide Plus, gain access to 8,900+ more expert-written Study Guides. Including features:
