Atlas Falls to Earth

Thirteen-year-old Atlas Rayson is not like the other boys in his rural Southern town. He doesn't hunt, he plays the recorder, and he finds solace in the dust-mote quiet of the school library. His father, Jason, a carpenter hardened by poverty and grief, wants a son who is tough; Atlas just wants to disappear. Just days after his thirteenth birthday, two gossamer webs uncoil from Atlas's back, expanding into bruised-colored wings.

As Atlas navigates the physical agony of his transformation and the emotional minefield of a father who cannot look him in the eye, he retreats into a book given to him by his stepmother-figure, Alex: Misadventures in Being: The Strange Tale of Bunny and Munk. As the fable of the two brothers mirrors Atlas's own desire for a different life, the line between reality and metaphor begins to blur.