Arrows

Gr 9 Up—Aaryn, son of Eros, makes a terrible mistake in his final test to become a god. While he is attempting to shoot a high school couple to make them fall in love, only one of his arrows is good. The girl, Karma, falls helplessly, hopelessly in love with the boy, Danny, but Danny's arrow was defective; he was never shot and does not return Karma's affection. Given a chance to right this wrong, Aaryn is sent to Earth in human form one year later to get Danny to propose to Karma. Karma and Danny now have a baby together, and while Karma wears herself out keeping up with school, ballet, and caring for baby Nell, Danny is out partying with his friends, playing football, and providing Karma with little to no support. He's also seeing other girls. No matter how badly he behaves, Karma loves him. Then Aaryn comes along, and Karma is eventually able to break the spell. Alternating narrators Laura Knight Keating and Nick Cordero bring the tale to life. The work contains some strong situationally appropriate language.