Winner of the Minnesota Indie Author Project
Midwest Book Awards Finalist
Indie Author Project Select Title
Some secrets are meant to soar. Others are buried too deep to touch.
For generations, the women in Ariel Lee’s family have possessed a breathtaking secret: the ability to fly. Guided by the wind, Ariel spent her youth soaring over her family’s farm in Cosette, Minnesota. But when a tragic accident lands her best friend in the hospital, guilt grounds Ariel. She turns her back on the sky, burying her gift and her true identity to live a safe, ordinary life.
Years later, a crisis forces Ariel back to her hometown. The wind is still calling her name, but returning means facing the trauma she ran from. As family secrets unravel and the man she loves faces his own crisis, Ariel must make a choice. To save them all, she must conquer her fear, trust the air beneath her, and learn how to fly again.
Up There is a luminous contemporary magical realism novel about the heavy weight of grief, the healing power of nature, and the courage it takes to embrace who you are meant to be.
The Minnesota Indie Author Project Contest is curated and presented by the Minnesota Library Association. Up There also was named a finalist in the literary fiction category of the 34th annual Midwest Book Awards, which is one of the longest running literary recognition programs in the country. I am excited and honored to be a part of these awards.
“A magical story in which the wind is a living thing and speaks to young Ariel, causing her nothing but trouble. In Up There, Sherry Roberts spins an enchanting tale of self-discovery that climaxes in a literal cataclysmic whirlwind as the adult Ariel finally comes to terms with the person she was always meant to be. Roberts’s vivid imagery almost lifts off the page to float away in the breeze.” — Michael Allan Mallory, author of the award-winning The Lost Dragon Murder
“Up There is stunning, with beautiful writing and a magical story that is heart-wrenching at times but mostly heart-warming, amusing, smart, and fast-paced. Up There is ideal for book clubs and readers who have loved novels such as Remarkably Bright Creatures and All The Light You Cannot See and Plainsong. Such novels take one’s breath away and Up There did that for me. As soon as I finished it I wanted to experience it again. The story starts with a little girl who is “different”—Ariel Lee can lift herself into the wind and communicate with it. Ariel is made to wear heavy shoes to hide this supposed affliction and keep her grounded (a metaphor that works well). Schoolmates taunt Ariel for her clunky shoes and supposed problem. Even as she becomes a young woman and sheds the burdensome shoes, complications ensue because she fears being true to herself, and that conundrum allows the story to take off again like the wind itself. Trouble brews at every turn with bullies, friends, family, a long lost father, special friend Ruddy, and nature itself. The Minnesota setting is a major character in this novel, adding to the reading pleasure. Highly recommended novel!” — Christine DeSmet, author, writing instructor
“Sherry Roberts is stunningly gifted in braiding together the world as we know it with what it could be. Her world-making vibrates with believability, and in Up There she enchants us again. Ariel Lee is Robert’s most endearing character yet. Your heart will break for Ariel as she navigates coming of age as well as coming to terms with what makes her unlike anyone else, and how much one will sacrifice for the people we love.” — Susan Thurston-Hamerski, MALS, author of Sister of Grendel
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