Deanna Miller’s Sky Bounce isn’t easy to categorize. It has strong religious and moral undertones, and I’m almost tempted to call it an inspirational, except that it is firmly set in a highly original fantasy universe. It’s definitely a book for younger readers, and its protagonists are teenagers.

Our narrator is an Alula girl named Hesper. Alulas are winged women who, for reasons never addressed, live totally isolated from the males of their species. These are half-man, half-horse creatures called Mantaurs (classical mythology fans, please wince here), who seem to be rather brutish and nasty customers. Apparently the Alulas must drug the Mantaurs in order to “do quickly the thing necessary to perpetuate our kind, and leave before the Mantaurs’ drowsiness wears off and they can attack.” Therefore, it’s unusual that Hesper’s best friend is a Boytaur (wince) named Tristan. Tristan glows, and so was exiled from the society of other Mantaurs.

Hesper and Tristan love each other’s company, and together they are quite literally better than either of them is alone. Alulas can fly but they’re slow and weak; Mantaurs are strong and swift but planted firmly on the ground. Together, Hesper and Tristan have perfected a way of leaping/gliding that they call fly-bouncing.

But Hesper lives a life of fear. It seems that the Alula council periodically Sends young Alulas to another plane of existence, from whence they never return. Hesper’s mother was Sent, and Hesper is terrified that she, too, will be Chosen. Which does indeed happen. Hesper finds herself a human teenage girl in our world, without memory of her Alula life. She is deeply troubled about the crime and violence of the human plane, but feels powerless to help. Tristan somehow finds her, and the two of them will travel to yet another plane of existence before the book is through.

This book is quite ambitious. It moves from the totally imaginary Alula realm to a more familiar high-school setting, and shows how both worlds are troubled by simple greed, wickedness, and despair. Tristan and Hesper are actively engaged in trying to make their worlds better places. Sky Bounce specifically addresses idealistic young people who want to help change the world, but don’t know how. Christian readers might well be uncomfortable with the fantastic elements in the book, but it is highly moral. Its core message is that faith in God defeats fear and gives one the courage to do what needs to be done.

There is a tender love story between Tristan and Hesper, whose relationship seems more and more impossible as the book goes on. As Sky Bounce is not a romance, it doesn’t have a traditional HEA ending; but our protagonists do affirm their love in a very touching way. I liked Sky Bounce, and those interested in a very unique YA read might want to seek it out.