Quintessence

Three months ago, twelve-year-old Alma moved to the town of Four Points. Her panic attacks started a week later, and they haven't stopped—even though she's told her parents that they have. Every day she feels less and less like herself. But one day she finds a telescope in the town's junk shop, and through its lens, she watches a star—a star that looks like a child—fall from the sky and into her backyard. Alma knows what it's like to long for home, and decides she'll return that star home to the sky. With the help of unlikely new friends, she sets out on a quest that will take a little bit of science, a little bit of magic, and her whole self. Quintessence is a stunning story from Jess Redman about friendship, self-discovery, interconnectedness, and the inexplicable elements that make you you.