Contemporary Authors

• The Day the Angels Fell ( novel) Revell (Grand Rapids, MI), 2017
• The Edge of Over There ( sequel to The Day the Angels Fell) Revell (Grand Rapids, MI), 2018
• Once We Were Strangers: What Friendship with a Syrian Refugee Taught Me about Loving My Neighbor Revell (Grand Rapids, MI), 2018

1. Once we were strangers : what friendship with a Syrian refugee taught me about loving my neighbor https://lccn.loc.gov/2018017117 Smucker, Shawn, author. Once we were strangers : what friendship with a Syrian refugee taught me about loving my neighbor / Shawn Smucker. Grand Rapids, MI : Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, [2018] pages cm BV4647.F7 S68 2018 ISBN: 9780800734763 (pbk. : alk. paper) 2. The edge of over there https://lccn.loc.gov/2017061366 Smucker, Shawn, author. The edge of over there / Shawn Smucker. Grand Rapids, Michigan : Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, [2018] 372 pages ; 23 cm PS3619.M83 E34 2018 ISBN: 9780800728502 (hardcover : acid-free paper) 3. The day the angels fell https://lccn.loc.gov/2017012124 Smucker, Shawn, author. The day the angels fell / Shawn Smucker. Grand Rapids, Michigan : Revell, [2017] 316 pages ; 23 cm PS3619.M83 D38 2017 ISBN: 9780800728496 (cloth)9780800729103 (pbk.)

• Shawn Smucker - http://shawnsmucker.com/about/

  About Shawn

  I think everyone’s looking for a place in the world – not a physical location as much as an emotional one. Just a tiny bit of space to set up shop, to exist.

  Life hinted at where that space would be for me when I was a small boy and books picked me up and carried me away. If you came looking for me in the mid-80s you would have found me sitting on a large porch attached to a ramshackle farmhouse, reading about Narnia or the Shire, brushing away the flies, constantly saying, “Okay, mom, just one more chapter.”

  But then, normal life, with all of its misleading promises and plastic desires, got in the way. I wandered. Geographically, I went to a hot city in Florida, an old village in England, and then back to Virginia. Emotionally, I traveled even further. Finally, after ten years of searching, I found stories again. Or maybe they found me.

  Now I live in that place I was always trying to find. I wake up beside my beautiful wife, Maile. I make breakfast for my six children. I spend the rest of the day capturing stories, doing what Steinbeck called the impossible: trying to explain the inexplicable. Trying to transplant stories from my mind to yours.

  Thanks for visiting my tiny bit of space.

  “This is what separates artists from ordinary people: the belief, deep in our hearts, that if we build our castles well enough, somehow the ocean won’t wash them away. I think this is a wonderful kind of person to be.”

  Anne Lamott, Bird By Bird

• Fourth & Sycamore - https://fourthandsycamore.com/2017/09/21/an-interview-with-author-shawn-smucker/

  QUOTED: "When I was the age of Samuel, I lived on a farm in central Pennsylvania. It really was such a wonderful place to grow up. As soon as I got home from school, I’d be out in the barns or the fields or down at the creek or playing in the cemetery. To have that kind of space and freedom as a young boy is extraordinary. My parents always kept me in books, and I spent as much time, if not more, sitting on the porch reading as I did carrying out my own adventures."

  SEPTEMBER 21, 2017DAVID NILSEN
  An Interview with Author Shawn Smucker
  By David Nilsen

  I first got to know Shawn Smucker close to a decade ago when we were both struggling bloggers. Shawn had been at it for longer than I had (my blog at the time has long since been abandoned, so don’t go looking for it. Please.) and kindly boosted my platform by trading guest posts. I appreciated his welcoming kindness at the time, and I’ve appreciated his honest and sincere writing ever since.

  Shawn’s first young adult novel, The Day the Angels Fell, is being published this month, and he recently took some time to talk with me about his influences, the inspiration for his book, and how death and grief inform our perspective on life.

  David Nilsen for Fourth & Sycamore: Whether by intention or happy accident, The Day the Angels Fell seems to be in conversation with the works of two authors who wrote young adult novels before there was even a young adult market: Madeleine L’Engle and Katherine Paterson. Both bring the fantastic into the realm of the every day, both work with Biblical imagery and mythology without sinking to propaganda, and both take grief as a theme in their best known works, all of which finds echoes in your debut novel. Were those authors conscious influences? How would you say your book interacts with that old guard of Christian-influenced youth fiction?

  Shawn Smucker: L’Engle is certainly an influencer in my writing life. A Wrinkle in Time became one of those books I circled back to again and again as a teenager, and then as an adult. Paterson not so much, although I’m sure Bridge to Terebithia guides my pen in subconscious ways. I do like to think of it as a conversation, the way books can interact from generation to generation. So, while in their books death played a particular role, in my book the question is raised, “But could it be possible that death is a gift?” And I think their books both hold answers to that, in some regard, or perhaps reply with their own questions.

  F&S: Who are some other authors who have inspired and influenced you?

  Shawn: I think in the most conscious sense, the biggest influencers on the writing of The Day the Angels Fell were Madeleine L’Engle and Neil Gaiman. I had only just recently discovered Gaiman prior to writing this, having read The Ocean at the End of the Lane, and the way he interjects magical realism into his stories seemed fun to me, something worth exploring in my own writing. Others? Tolkien, Lewis, Rowling, Robinson. I guess the list goes on and on, and in no way do I think I’ve attained that level of artistry yet, but they certainly leave bread crumbs to follow.

  F&S: Grief and loss are the heart of this book. Was that a personal theme you were exploring when you were writing this?

  Photo of Shawn Smucker by John Sanderson of Sanderson Photography.
  Shawn: I had just returned from Turkey where I was co-writing a book with a man dying of cancer. He only had months to live, and spending time with him and his family in those final days had a huge impact on me in a very personal way. I thought a lot about my own mortality in those days. When I came home from the trip, I knew I wanted to write a story for my children, and as that story unfolded, death became the main theme. It wasn’t something I set out to do—write a book about death—but it’s what I was dealing with personally, and it’s what came out.

  F&S: You’ve taken an unusual publishing path toward your debut novel. Can you tell me about your writing career prior to the publication of The Day the Angels Fell?

  Shawn: Yes. I started my career in 2008 as a co-writer, and that’s pretty much what I did for the next six or seven years, co-writing memoirs and family histories and that sort of thing. It wasn’t until 2014 that I self-published The Day the Angels Fell, and it wasn’t until 2016 that the book was picked up by a publisher. I am 40 years old and feel like I’m only getting started.

  F&S: In the book’s acknowledgements, you say your kids helped you create this story around the dinner table one Spring evening. Can you tell me more about that and the role your kids have in your artistic inspiration?

  Shawn: When I got back from Turkey, one night at dinner I asked them what kind of a book they’d like and if they’d help me come up with the plot. What we created together that night wasn’t exactly what the book would become—there were, in the beginning, more talking animals—but the idea of a story that continues an old tale, includes a child whose mother has died, and is quest-like in nature were all things we came up with together.

  F&S: The Day the Angels Fell succeeds at capturing the experience of rural childhood with its freedoms and unique fears. I assume that was drawn from your own childhood? What was your upbringing like?

  Shawn: When I was the age of Samuel, I lived on a farm in central Pennsylvania. It really was such a wonderful place to grow up. As soon as I got home from school, I’d be out in the barns or the fields or down at the creek or playing in the cemetery. To have that kind of space and freedom as a young boy is extraordinary. My parents always kept me in books, and I spent as much time, if not more, sitting on the porch reading as I did carrying out my own adventures. I am very fortunate to have had that kind of childhood.

  F&S: You’re a person of faith, but I know from previous conversations you’re aware of the failings of much popular Christian “art” in recent decades. What does it mean for you to be writing stories influenced by faith but still honest about the human heart and true to artistic impulse?

  Shawn: First and foremost, I do not set out to write novels for Christians. My goal is to tell a good story, a “True” story. I think you hit on the key word in your question: honesty. If I try to curb a character’s impulses based on what I think might be “acceptable” to a Christian reader, I have failed as an artist. If I try to shape a plot, not based on where the characters are taking it but based on some preconceived message or agenda, I have failed as an artist. So, even though I am currently published by a Christian publisher, I do not take that into consideration when I write. To me, a story must, at all costs, be honest. It must tell the Truth. Of course, I’m not talking historical accuracy here, because I’m writing novels, but I’m talking about a Truth that takes into account the way the world is and the way we so desperately want it to be, and the horrible and wonderful things we will do to create that world we want.

  F&S: What’s next? I understand you’re planning a second book in this series for next year? Do you have other book projects in the works?

  Shawn: There is a sequel to The Day the Angels Fell that comes out early next summer, called The Edge of Over There. I love this next one so much. It focuses more on Abra and her taking up the mantel from Mr. Tennin. I’m also working on a nonfiction, memoir-style book that explores the relationship my family has developed with a Syrian refugee family, what they went through to get the U.S., and how they have influenced me and the way I view “outsiders.” This book is slated for a Fall release in 2018.

  F&S: Thanks, Shawn!

  You can find more information about Shawn, his new book, and his others writings at his website: shawnsmucker.com

• Texas Book Lover - https://www.texasbooklover.com/2018/07/interview-shawn-smucker-author-of-edge.html

  QUOTED: "I scoured the internet after finishing book 1, trying to find out more legends about the Tree of Life, and while I did that I came across this one legend, an ancient belief that there were seven gates between Earth and the afterlife. One gate on each continent. I started playing around with this concept, and that’s what led to The Edge of Over There."

  The captivating sequel to the award-winning The Day the Angels Fell

  Abra Miller carries a secret and a responsibility she never expected.

  Before the Tree of Life, everything in Abra Miller’s life had been predictable. Safe. Normal. But after the Tree, everything has felt fragile . . . like holding a soap bubble in the palm of her hand. After years of fruitless searching for the next Tree, she begins to wonder if it was nothing more than a vivid dream.

  Now sixteen, Abra finds a clue to the whereabouts of the next Tree of Life when an ominous woman—who looks exactly like a ghost from her past—compels her to travel to New Orleans where she’ll find one of seven gateways between this world and Over There. But she’s not the only one interested in finding the gateway. There’s also a young man searching for his father and sister, who escaped through it years before. As Abra enters the Edge of Over There and begins her pursuit of the Tree once more, she doesn’t know whom to fear or whom to trust.

  She’s also starting to think that some doorways should never be opened.

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  INTERVIEW WITH SHAWN SMUCKER

  In The Day the Angels Fell, you introduced readers to a twelve-year-old boy who lost his mother to a tragic accident and is desperately seeking the Tree of Life in order to bring her back. How is the sequel, The Edge of Over There, a continuation of this story?
  In the sequel, Abra Miller takes on the role of the angel tasked with finding and destroying the Tree of Life. She and Sam have grown apart, but the ancient struggle around the Tree continues, and Abra is swept up in it.

  Abra is the main character in your new book. How has her life changed since the events relayed in The Day the Angels Fell?
  She is four years older, and she is lonelier after experiencing the events in book 1. She is also hungry for more of the same adventure, more of the same otherworldly involvement, but four years is a long time, and she begins to doubt if any of it really happened or if she would see anything like it again.

  You refer to seven gateways between this world and Over There. Can you provide a brief explanation of what these are?
  I scoured the internet after finishing book 1, trying to find out more legends about the Tree of Life, and while I did that I came across this one legend, an ancient belief that there were seven gates between Earth and the afterlife. One gate on each continent. I started playing around with this concept, and that’s what led to The Edge of Over There.

  What made you decide to write these books, and where do you come up with your creative plots?
  I decided to write the first book after spending time in Istanbul with a very good man who was dying of cancer at the age of forty-nine. His story plunged me into thinking quite a lot about death. I combined that theme with some questions I had about Bible stories I’d heard when I was a child, stories that don’t have much in the way of closure. Asking questions is what leads me into new stories.

  What type of research was required for writing The Edge of Over There?
  I did a lot of research on New Orleans and especially the cemetery that is featured in the story, as well as the backstory of Marie Laveau.

  What is one of the main points you hope readers learn from your book?
  I’d like readers to continue to engage with me in considering the question, could it be possible death is a gift? I think The Edge of Over There also explores themes of selfishness and power and control, and I hope it challenges our current cultural obsession with living forever and doing anything to remain young.

  What are you working on next?
  I have a nonfiction book coming out in the fall of 2018, as well as a contemporary adult novel releasing in 2019. I’m very excited about both of these.

  Praise for The Edge of Over There:
  “Blending Biblical elements and urban myths, Smucker creates an enthralling story of supernatural battles between the forces of good and evil.” -- Publishers Weekly

  “The Edge of Over There is a mesmerizing, menacing fantasy. Shawn Smucker fuses New Orleans lore, Christian themes, and dystopian landscapes in a thorough exploration of love and its unintended results.” -- Foreword Reviews (Starred Review)

  Shawn Smucker is the author of The Day the Angels Fell and The Edge of Over There. He lives with his wife and six children in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. You can find him on his website, where you can also sign up for his newsletter in order to find out when and where the Tree of Life will turn up next.

• Interviews & Reviews - https://www.interviewsandreviews.com/interviews/shawn-smucker-interview

  QUOTED: "I wondered how I would feel if that was me, preparing to die. When I got home from the trip I started talking to my children about what kind of story they would like, and together we came up with the basic structure for The Day the Angels Fell. As I began to write the book, I realized that doing so was my way of working through this fear of death I had taken on. And writing it really helped me come to grips with my own mortality."

  10/12/17

  0 Comments
  Shawn Smucker Interview
  Picture
  Today I am pleased to welcome author Shawn Smucker to Interviews & Reviews. Shawn's debut novel The Day the Angels Fell will capture your imagination. He has carved out a spot for himself in the tradition of authors Madeleine L’Engle and Lois Lowry.

  Shawn lives with his wife and six children in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. You can find him online at
  www.shawnsmucker.com, where you can also sign up for his newsletter.

  Shawn, welcome to Interviews & Reviews!
  For those who aren't familiar with your work, can you tell us a little about yourself?

  I grew up in Pennsylvania and am the 13th generation of my family to live there, so I feel very connected to the fields and forests of central PA, and the landscape makes its way into my stories. I make a living co-writing and ghostwriting books, something I’ve done for almost ten years now, but my dream has always been to write fiction, and The Day the Angels Fell is my first novel. I still live in Lancaster with my wife and our six children.

  So you have been writing for quite a while. Have you written any other books?

  I’ve written over 20 books, but most of those are for other people, some traditionally published, some independently published. I self-published an ebook about my writing life called Building a Life Out of Words (you can get it for free at Noisetrade) and also a book about my family’s four-month adventure around the country – that book is called, How to Build a Runaway Truck Ramp.

  Picture
  Tell us a little about The Day the Angels Fell. Where did you get your inspiration to write this story?

  I was co-writing a memoir with a man in Istanbul, Turkey, who was dying of cancer. The goal was to finish the first draft before he passed away, so it was an intense three weeks, and we spent a lot of time together. For the first time in my life, I was face-to-face with mortality—he was forty-nine years old, a husband, a father of two children—and I wondered how I would feel if that was me, preparing to die.
  When I got home from the trip I started talking to my children about what kind of story they would like, and together we came up with the basic structure for The Day the Angels Fell. As I began to write the book, I realized that doing so was my way of working through this fear of death I had taken on. And writing it really helped me come to grips with my own mortality.

  Which character is your favorite and why?

  My favorite character is Abra. She’s a strong, determined girl, fiercely loyal, courageous in the face of death. In other words, she’s who I would like to be. I also like the old Samuel Chambers because I have a feeling he’s very much how I will be when I’m an old man—a little grumpy, a little bit of a hermit, but mostly a soft, sentimental type.

  How did you choose the setting for your novel?

  The setting is the farm where I lived for five years, really the earliest place I can remember. It’s always had mythic attributes to it, at least in my mind—there was the farm with its shadows and huge barns and open spaces; there was the church across the street and the creek behind it; there was the cemetery and the road that went off into the country. This setting has always meant so much to me.

  Would you classify your book more as a mystery or as a fantasy?

  I don’t think of it as a fantasy, although there are certainly fantastical elements. What I wanted to do was write a story that an old man looking back on fifty or sixty years later might find hard to believe, which is what’s happening here. I guess I’d say more mystery, although not in the classic whodunit sense. The mystery is Samuel and Abra trying to find out more about the mystery of death, which is, I think, a mystery we are all very concerned about.

  Did you write The Day the Angels Fell for pure enjoyment, or is there some lesson you hope readers will take away from reading your book?

  I’d like young readers, any reader, to think more about their own death, to think about why it’s scary for many of us. Our culture does everything it can to keep death at arm’s length, especially with children. I’d like us collectively to consider what death actually is, what it might lead to, what its greater purpose could be.

  In what way would you say your faith is worked into the book?

  My personal faith is strongly rooted in hope. I think what this book really is, at its core, is me trying to find hope even in the darkest edges of life.

  Who is the primary audience for The Day the Angels Fell?

  The primary audience would be people who enjoy whimsical tales about childhood that are a bit melancholy, a bit nostalgic. Also, people who would like to explore the idea of death being a part of life.

  What are you working on next?

  I’m working on a lot of things! I co-write and ghostwrite nonfiction for individuals and publishing houses, so there’s always something going on there. We’re currently working on the edits for the sequel to The Day the Angels Fell. And I’m exploring some ideas for my third novel, which will be for the general market.

  Thank you Shawn for stopping by and congratulations on your debut novel!

QUOTED: "This novel should enjoy wide appeal among many different readers, including fans of fantasy, horror, and mythology."

Smucker, Shawn. The Edge of Over
There
Johanna Nation-Vallee
Voice of Youth Advocates.
41.2 (June 2018): p73+. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2018 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
Smucker, Shawn. The Edge of Over There. Revell/Baker, July 2018. 384p. $17.99. 978-08007-2850-2.
4Q * 4P * J * S
Leo's father and sister, Ruby, have disappeared into a tomb. The tomb contains a secret passageway to the Edge of Over There, a city on a river which marks the divide between life and death. In the city is the Tree of Life: its leaves have the power to heal Ruby's illness, and its fruit can bestow the gift of immortality. Not all is as it seems, however, and there are those who would use the Tree's power to dominate all beings, living and dead. Angels have charged Abra Miller with a mission to destroy the tree and seal the entrance to the tomb. When she and Leo meet in New Orleans, they decide to join forces and attempt to rescue Ruby before locking the passageway permanently.
The Edge of Over There is the sequel to Smucker's 2017 debut novel, The Day the Angels Fell (Revell, 2017/VOYA October 2017), and the author makes frequent references to the characters and events of the first book. Readers may enjoy this as a standalone piece, but will probably find themselves wanting to read the previous novel at some point. Smucker brings his haunting world to life through a rhythmic writing style that sometimes borders on hypnotic. Rich imagery does not hinder the pace of the novel, however, and the book is difficult to put down. This novel should enjoy wide appeal among many different readers, including fans of fantasy, horror, and mythology.--Johanna Nation-Vallee.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
1 of 9 9/30/18, 9:16 PM
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MA...
Nation-Vallee, Johanna. "Smucker, Shawn. The Edge of Over There." Voice of Youth Advocates, June 2018, p. 73+. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc /A545022965/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=a4d29b13. Accessed 30 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A545022965

QUOTED: "The Edge of Over There is a mesmerizing, menacing fantasy. Shawn Smucker fuses New Orleans lore, Christian themes, and dystopian landscapes in a thorough exploration of love and its unintended results."

2 of 9 9/30/18, 9:16 PM

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The Edge of Over There
Karen Rigby
ForeWord.
(May 27, 2018): From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2018 ForeWord http://www.forewordmagazine.com
Full Text:
Shawn Smucker; THE EDGE OF OVER THERE; Revell (Fiction: Christian) 17.99 ISBN: 9780800728502
Byline: Karen Rigby
The Edge of Over There is a mesmerizing, menacing fantasy. Shawn Smucker fuses New Orleans lore, Christian themes, and dystopian landscapes in a thorough exploration of love and its unintended results.
Following The Day the Angels Fell -- which details Samuel Chambers and Abra Miller's search for the Tree of Life -- this sequel alternates between an older Samuel's brush with a stranger; the stranger's tale of Amos Jardine, whose struggle to save his daughter, Ruby, opens the door to The Edge of Over There; Abra's role in the fight between good and evil; and Leo, Ruby's brother, who hasn't forgotten her in the years since her disappearance.
Abra's mission unfolds through memories and a story-within-a-story that takes on mythic dimensions. What's at stake is the fate of mankind: if any fruit from the Tree of Life were to be consumed, the breach would disrupt society. Abra's task is to kill the tree and prevent immortality; as heavy as that burden is, she seldom wavers. She's skillfully drawn as a serious- minded teen who is chosen yet flawed.
The plot gains momentum once Abra reaches The Edge of Over There. In this visionary space set between earth and the afterlife, the disillusioned, the desperate, and the dreamers call forth a city to suit their needs. Ingenious turns allow characters to discover truths about themselves as they navigate the city, which reveals itself as both ancient and new, evolving and snared in uncertainty. The rich setting -- filled as it is with symbolism, angels and devils, and provocative questions -- yields endless mysteries.
But for all the fantastic elements in the book, it's the Jardine family's plight that is especially piercing. Amos's desire to save his daughter at any cost blurs into a series of lies that keep her imprisoned. How love drives some people to extremes while inspiring others to risk everything becomes an all-too-human issue.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
3 of 9 9/30/18, 9:16 PM

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MA...
Rigby, Karen. "The Edge of Over There." ForeWord, 27 May 2018. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A540568555/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=9a724cc6. Accessed 30 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A540568555

QUOTED: "Blending Biblical elements and urban myths, Smucker creates an enthralling story of supernatural battles between the forces of good and evil."

4 of 9 9/30/18, 9:16 PM

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The Edge of over There
Publishers Weekly.
265.22 (May 28, 2018): p80. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Edge of over There
Shawn Smucker. Revell, $17.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-8007-2850-2
In this thought-provoking sequel to The Day the Angels Fell, Smucker follows Abra Miller, a 16- year-old who has taken on a great responsibility. Set in a contemporary world with fantastical flourishes, the novel begins with the Biblical Tree of Life regenerating itself, an occurrence that happens sporadically. Abra holds the sword that can kill the Tree and keep humans from becoming immortal by eating the Tree's fruit. Abra's atlas, given to her in the previous book, shows that the latest Tree has appeared at the Edge of Over There, an otherworldly place between Earth and Heaven. Abra must enter a secret passageway within a tomb in a New Orleans cemetery, find the Tree, kill it, and return to seal the Tomb. She sets off with Beatrice and Leo, both of whom have connections to the Tree: Beatrice, a mysterious girl who appears suddenly at Abra's school, makes Abra nervous but also inspires confidence that she can find the Tree; Leo is searching for his father, who spirited Leo's sister, Ruby, through the tomb years earlier. As they get closer to the Tree, their divergent purposes put them at odds with each other. Blending Biblical elements and urban myths, Smucker creates an enthralling story of supernatural battles between the forces of good and evil. Agent: Ruth Samsel, William K. Jensen Literary Agency (July)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Edge of over There." Publishers Weekly, 28 May 2018, p. 80. Book Review Index Plus,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A541638823/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=3b25f7d3. Accessed 30 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A541638823

QUOTED: "unusual and unique."
"Readers interested in religion, good versus evil, grief and loss, and life-after-death issues may be drawn to it."

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6 of 9 9/30/18, 9:16 PM
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Smucker, Shawn. The Day the Angels
Fell
Cheryl Clark
Voice of Youth Advocates.
40.4 (Oct. 2017): p77+. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2017 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
5Q * 4P * M * J (a)
Smucker, Shawn. The Day the Angels Fell. Revell/Baker, September 2017. 320p. $17.99. 978-0-8007-2849-6.
When he is twelve, Sam loses his mother to a freak lightning strike. Thus begins a long, strange summer as he searches for the Tree of Life, whose magic can bring his mother back. His journey of discovery thrusts him into an epic battle between two angels, one determined to achieve dominion over the mortal world and the other just as resolved to stop him.
Smucker's debut is an unusual and unique young adult novel as the protagonist is an elderly man telling the tale while looking back on his childhood. The tone, subject matter, and allegorical elements hearken back to older books for young readers, like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe or A Wrinkle in Time. While the angels take on human characteristics, they obviously represent good and evil, while Sam is a more complex, nuanced character. Though he is the "good guy," he falls under the spell of darkness in his overwhelming desire to bring his mother back, no matter the consequences. The true hero is not the protagonist; that role instead falls to Sam's best friend, Abra. The language and writing style are beautiful, fully worthy of a topic steeped in reverence. Given the age of the protagonist, this is most likely going to appeal to middle school readers, although readers interested in religion, good versus evil, grief and loss, and life-after-death issues may be drawn to it as well.--Cheryl Clark.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Clark, Cheryl. "Smucker, Shawn. The Day the Angels Fell." Voice of Youth Advocates, Oct. 2017,
p. 77+. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A511785106 /GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=24309fb1. Accessed 30 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A511785106

QUOTED: "The Day the Angels Fell may be draped in mythic garments, but its blood and bones are thoroughly and relatably human."

7 of 9 9/30/18, 9:16 PM

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The Day the Angels Fell
Meagan Logsdon
ForeWord.
(Aug. 27, 2017): From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2017 ForeWord http://www.forewordmagazine.com
Full Text:
Shawn Smucker; THE DAY THE ANGELS FELL; Revell (Fiction: Christian) 17.99 ISBN: 9780800728496
Byline: Meagan Logsdon
Though draped in the mythic, the novel's blood and bones are thoroughly and relatably human.
The otherworldly and the mundane collide in Shawn Smucker's The Day the Angels Fell, a humanizing tale of cosmic proportions.
When death visits the family of Samuel Chambers, mysterious carnival women and strange encounters with animals propel the twelve-year-old boy on a search for the Tree of Life. Samuel seeks a way to reverse death, and though he finds no easy answers, he does stumble into the hidden side of reality, a realm of legends, monsters, and cherubim. Together with his best friend, Abra, Samuel must grapple with the implications of mortality and make choices that could affect the whole of creation.
Characters are the driving force in this intriguing novel. The narrative consists primarily of Samuel's twelve-year-old point of view, but each major section begins with a glimpse of a much older Samuel, a lonely and reticent contrast to the vigorous naA[macron]vetA[c] found throughout.
Abra shines as a proactive lead, and her friendship, while tested at times, is refreshingly platonic. The villainous Mr. Jinn never fails to be disturbing; he raises the tension whenever he appears on the scene.
While the metaphysics are drawn from a Judeo-Christian cosmology, there are new inventions playfully woven into the fabric of the book. The story feels familiar but never predictable. Secrets are revealed at a satisfying pace, carried by smooth, conversational writing.
At the heart of the novel is death, but it is not macabre. The idea of death as a gift resonates, and Samuel, in his quest to achieve immortality from the Tree of Life, has to confront death as a stark reality before he can overcome his tragedies.
The Day the Angels Fell may be draped in mythic garments, but its blood and bones are
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thoroughly and relatably human.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Logsdon, Meagan. "The Day the Angels Fell." ForeWord, 27 Aug. 2017. Book Review Index
Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A502036101/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=96a64ed0. Accessed 30 Sept. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A502036101
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Nation-Vallee, Johanna. "Smucker, Shawn. The Edge of Over There." Voice of Youth Advocates, June 2018, p. 73+. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A545022965/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=a4d29b13. Accessed 30 Sept. 2018. Rigby, Karen. "The Edge of Over There." ForeWord, 27 May 2018. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A540568555/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=9a724cc6. Accessed 30 Sept. 2018. "The Edge of over There." Publishers Weekly, 28 May 2018, p. 80. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A541638823/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=3b25f7d3. Accessed 30 Sept. 2018. Clark, Cheryl. "Smucker, Shawn. The Day the Angels Fell." Voice of Youth Advocates, Oct. 2017, p. 77+. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A511785106/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=24309fb1. Accessed 30 Sept. 2018. Logsdon, Meagan. "The Day the Angels Fell." ForeWord, 27 Aug. 2017. Book Review Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A502036101/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS&xid=96a64ed0. Accessed 30 Sept. 2018.

• Family Fiction
  https://www.familyfiction.com/ya-author-qa-shawn-smucker-edge/
  Word count: 596

  QUOTED: "I think The Edge of Over There ... explores themes of selfishness and power and control, and I hope it challenges our current cultural obsession with living forever and doing anything to remain young."

  YA Author Q&A: Shawn Smucker (The Edge of Over There)
  Shawn Smucker
  June 18, 2018

  In 2017, Shawn Smucker introduced readers to the enchanting world of 12-year-old Samuel Chambers in his debut novel, The Day the Angels Fell. Now with The Edge of Over There (Revell), Abra is led to pursue the Tree once more—but she’s starting to think that some doorways should never be opened. In this interview, Shawn explains how Abra’s life has changed in the time between the books, where he heard about the concept of the seven gateways, and how he hopes the book will challenge readers…

  In The Day the Angels Fell, you introduced readers to a 12-year-old boy who lost his mother to a tragic accident and desperately seeks the Tree of Life to bring her back. How does The Edge of Over There continue the story?

  In the sequel, Abra Miller takes on the role of the angel tasked with finding and destroying the Tree of Life. She and Sam have grown apart, but the ancient struggle around the Tree continues, and Abra is swept up in it.

  Abra is the main character in your new book. How has her life changed since the events relayed in The Day the Angels Fell?

  She is four years older, and she is lonelier after experiencing the events in book one. She is also hungry for more of the same adventure, more of the same otherworldly involvement, but four years is a long time, and she begins to doubt if any of it really happened or if she would see anything like it again.

  You refer to seven gateways between this world and Over There. Would you explain them?

  I scoured the Internet after finishing book one, trying to find out more legends about the Tree of Life, and came across this one legend, an ancient belief that there were seven gates between Earth and the afterlife. One gate on each continent. I started playing around with this concept, and that’s what led to The Edge of Over There.

  What made you decide to write these books?

  I decided to write the first book after spending time in Istanbul with a very good man who was dying of cancer at the age of 49. His story plunged me into thinking quite a lot about death.

  I combined that theme with some questions I had about Bible stories I’d heard when I was a child, stories that don’t have much in the way of closure. Asking questions is what leads me into new stories.

  What is one of the main points you hope readers learn from your book?

  I’d like readers to continue to engage with me in considering the question, Could it be possible death is a gift? I think The Edge of Over There also explores themes of selfishness and power and control, and I hope it challenges our current cultural obsession with living forever and doing anything to remain young.

  Visit Shawn Smucker’s author page here: https://www.familyfiction.com/authors/shawn-smucker

  The Edge of Over There
  Day the Angels Fell #2
  Shawn Smucker
  Revell

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