I am trying to find the name of a book I read as a child and thought people here might know. I asked this question here before some years ago, but some more details have occurred to me so I thought I would raise them.
Plot - The plot is basically that the girl who lives next door to the protagonist is weird and can 'float for joy' - that is, levitate. She turns out to be a descendant of Atlantis or something similar - an elder race in decline now living discreetly amongst humans. They cannot interbreed - at one point the Atlanteans are described analogously to horses and humans akin to donkeys. The result is something like a mule.
I think it might have been hazardous for the humans and the others to touch, or maybe painful. I recall she might have had to wear gloves to protect herself, or to protect the protagonist from herself.
With hindsight, writing that down it almost came across as having slightly racial themes. I wondered if I could not find it again because it was politically incorrect for its time?
Additional Details -
Media - Single Book / Novel
Date of Publication - Pretty sure it was in either a children's section of a public library or a school library and it pre-dates 1995. Might even pre-date 1988.
Major Themes - decline of a race / empire? Possibly alternative / not politically correct for its time.
Tone - a children's book, dark, melancholy but otherwise I cannot really remember.
Characters - Two children, one human one otherwise. However, cannot remember if the protagonist was male or female. Probably a male meeting the mysterious, Atlantis descended girl.
Language - The book was in English and I read it in England.
Target Audience - Older children? Teens?
