UNDER THE MILKY WAY

A teenager investigates why so many residents in her Colorado town report alien abductions in this YA SF/romance novel.

For a small town, Dawson certainly has a high number of people attending Alien Abductees Anonymous meetings. They have similar stories: waking up unable to move in a bare, white room; sadistic poking and prodding; triangular-headed beings. Dutch Indonesian Cassidy Roekiem, a high school senior, is skeptical, but she’s had odd experiences like those of the support group, including losing two hours of her life and having flashbacks. As Cassidy makes contact with others who’ve had comparable flashbacks, she grows closer to handsome Hayden McGraw, who’s hiding his own link to aliens. Meanwhile, she’s looking into the so-called wellness resort Eden Estate, where her mother, Nina, has been staying since her research for a book on the 1985 vanishing of the president’s daughter, Jane Flanagan, turned into an obsession and breakdown. Alarmed by many red flags at Eden, Cassidy is determined to spring Nina by finding Flanagan herself. With the help of friends, Cassidy investigates the case—becoming embroiled in several dangerous secrets, including the connections among Eden Estate, Flanagan, and the CIA’s top-secret Parallax Human Intervention Unit. In her latest YA novel, Barneveld offers a cleverly constructed plot, letting readers in on much that Cassidy doesn’t know while still springing an unexpected development late in the tale that adds an intriguing complication. Cassidy’s an engaging character, tenacious, smart, and linguistically gifted; her facility in American Sign Language comes in handy. Also blending in well with the overall story is the romance between Cassidy and Hayden, which gains an extra dimension to the usual angst-y teen passion because of his secret life and its expectations.

A multilayered and well-told paranormal thriller with strong character and plot development.