Falling Bakward

by Henry Melton

Overview

Henry Melton, author of the award winning Emperor Dad brings a tale of the wonders that just might be waiting under your feet.

Jerry Ingram never wanted to be an interstellar explorer, just a bit more special than a sixth-generation farmer in South Dakota, and that’s why he spent hours after school digging at the mystery spot in the back fields, searching for Indian artifacts. But those bones he found didn’t even look human.

His family were ordinary folks, just struggling to make sunflower seed farming pay, but with maybe a few secrets his father never discussed. Why did Sheriff Musgrave always pick on them, and how did dad lose the fingers of his right hand? It would be great to be more like lucky Uncle Ted and his rich cousins down the road.

But when a cave-in forced Jerry deep into the derelict flying saucer buried there since the last ice age and through a portal to the world of the Bak, both branches of the family came together to hunt for him and reveal just why the Ingrams of Chamberlain S.D. were the perfect people to make first contact with the Bak and why the zebra-striped gentle giants on the alien world had been waiting thousands of years for them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781935236245
Publisher:	Wire Rim Books
Publication date:	03/01/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	376 KB

About the Author

Henry Melton is often on the road with his wife Mary Ann, a nature photographer and frequently captivated by the places he visits. This has inspired his latest series of novels; Small Towns, Big Ideas. Formerly a programmer specializing in database work and web design, he pioneered Internet use for a Fortune 500 company until the tech bubble collapse. In the early days of home computers, he created one of the earliest commercial word processing programs, and built his own computers back when that meant wiring the chips together by hand to his own schematics.
Henry's short fiction has been published in many magazines and anthologies, most frequently in ANALOG. Catacomb, published in DRAGON magazine, is considered a classic, and by the continuing fan mail twenty years later, a formative influence among modern computer gaming programmers. Many of these are available for free on his website.
Other than an occasional short story, most of his time is spent writing science fiction YA novels. Currently being published by Wire Rim Books are the Small Towns, Big Ideas series of books, where high school aged heroes of the here and now are confronted with classic science fiction themes. The first, Emperor Dad, was the winner of the 2008 Darrell Award for Best Novel.
Sharing what he’s learned about the art, craft, and business of writing has been an on-going part of his life, from grade school readings to teaching formal classes and veranda coaching for the students of George Benson Christian College in Zambia during his 2007 trip to Africa.

Editorial Reviews

This novel is as exciting as all the previous mysteries Henry has created and I could also say that this one is even more fast-paced and tightly written. Once the reader starts it they will not put it down. The plot is compelling from the first chapter to the last. The language is as always vivid and appropriate for young readers helping the characters look real and act like real people. This demands a great skill but the author knows very well how to combine reality with unreal situations.

Liana Metal

There's something different about the Ingrams. But they're not talking.
Jerry's project of digging in the sunflower field for Native American relics isn't something his dad encourages. Despite what a chance look at an aerial map suggests, Jerry's discouraged from talking too much about his finds. His Dad is worried that archaeologists tromping through the sunflowers will endanger their already at-risk livelihood. And... the Ingrams need to keep their secrets.

Tanita S. Davis

Jerry's discovery of the portal to other worlds is complicated by a lot of things, the most dangerous of which is the alien race known as the Kree. Rather than describe them, I direct your attention to the cover image on the left. Having preyed for millenia on the Bak, they're really happy to discover another food source in humans.
There's a lot going on in Falling Bakward, but the story flows well and is easy to follow. The Bak are an engaging race, and the Kree are suitably terrifying.

Bill Crider

There's something different about the Ingram's. But they're not talking. Jerry's project of digging in the sunflower field for Native American relics isn't something his dad encourages. Despite what a chance look at an aerial map suggests, Jerry's discouraged from talking too much about his finds. His Dad is worried that archaeologists tromping through the sunflowers will endanger their already at-risk livelihood. And... the Ingrams need to keep their secrets.

Tanita Davis