The Seas of Distant Stars

In this coming-of-age story featuring alien abduction and experimentation, readers follow the life of young Agapanthus (née Aria) from the moment the four-year-old girl goes literally out of this world. An outsider on Deeyae, a realm of heavy gravity and two suns, she's marked by her appearance and weakness amid a race of strong, squat humanoids with red skin and iris-less eyes. She's not the only "exchanger" experimented and looked down upon and never completely integrated society. When she rebels against her underclass status, she's returned to Earth with no memories of her previous existence, forced to start over with a family she barely remembers and a life that feels unreal. In her search for a place to belong, she finally finds her true identity. For most of this latest work from Varela (Listen; Call of the Sun Child), Agapanthus is a child determining her place in a world she loves but can never belong to. When she's returned to Earth, her journey is still that of self-discovery.