Alexis Marie Chute is the author of the award-winning, best-selling memoir Expecting Sunshine: A Journey of Grief, Healing and Pregnancy After Loss, published by She Writes Press. She is also a distinguished artist, photographer, and filmmaker. Chute has been named an “Emerging Canadian Photographer” by Photo Life Magazine and a “Top 40 Under 40” by Avenue Magazine, and was awarded the John Poole Award for Promotion of the Arts. She is also the director-producer of a feature film to accompany Expecting Sunshine. Her writing has been widely published in places including TIME, Today’s Parent, Scary Mommy, PhotoEd, and WestWord Magazine. Her artwork is represented by the AR&S Gallery at the Art Gallery of Alberta.

about ABOVE THE STAR

When Archie goes in search of his missing son, Arden, in the Spanish Canary Islands, he stumbles upon a higher mission: to save his ailing fourteen-year-old granddaughter, Ella. Using a portal-jumping device called the Tillastrion, Archie and a strange creature, a Bangol named Zeno, are transported—along with a cruise ship full of people, including Ella and her mother, Tessa—to a magnificent yet terrifying island in another realm, a place called Jarr-Wya, where Archie hopes to locate Ella’s cure.

On Jarr-Wya, the Bangols battle the Olearons—creatures made of fire—and the evil Millia sands for control of Jarr-Wya. When Ella is captured by the Bangols, her wit and resourcefulness emerge as she fights against all odds, and against all manner of creatures, to survive. Meanwhile, Tessa, must confront her long-buried secrets, broken marriage, and a confusing new love triangle, all while navigating the mysterious island in search of her daughter. And unbeknownst to everyone, there is an even greater foe to contend with: a wicked star anchored in the sea beneath them that is poisoning the island.

An epic adventure of three unlikely heroes, Above the Star reminds us that no matter how young, or how old, our bravery transforms not only our lives but the world around us.