A Sea of Stars by Kate Maryon

A Sea of Stars by Kate Maryon
Buy A Sea of Stars by Kate Maryon at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Confident Readers
Reviewer: Loralei Haylock
Summary: A lovely story about growing up, family relationships and the friendship that can exist between sisters. It will get kids thinking about these important themes, while the intrigue and tension will keep them turning pages.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 272	Date: June 2012
Publisher: Harper Collins
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-0007464647
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Maya wishes Mum would let her hang out with her friends and go surfing at the beach. But ever since Alfie, Maya's little brother, and the incident with the red London bus, her mother has been totally overprotective. Cat is younger than Maya by two whole years, but she has the freedom to do whatever she likes - she's even got the bus on her own into town. But Cat's mother is barely able to take care of herself, let alone her children, and Cat is about to be separated from her little brother, who she loves more than anything, to be adopted by Maya's family.

Maya's always wanted a sister, but Cat isn't quite what she imagined. Cat doesn't want to be friendly, she says horrible things to Mum, she screams and panics for no reason. Both girls have secrets and both girls have troubles. Can they work out how to be friends? How to be sisters?

I really enjoyed A Sea of Stars. It's the sort of book that sucks you in and keeps you turning the pages, despite the fact it's way outside of my age range.

I imagine any twelve year old reading will empathise entirely with Maya. Overprotected but fiercely independent - she just wants to do what she loves, and her parents hamper her, get in her way. I don't think there's a twelve year old alive who hasn't felt his or her parents are like that from time to time.

But more importantly, the story of the growing relationship between Maya and Cat that forms the core of the novel will get kids thinking about difficult ideas like 'what is family?' The struggles, the secrets between the two girls, and how they both eventually come to understand each other, unfold beautifully throughout the novel, the tension and intrigue keeping the pace fast.

At times the 'poetry' of the prose is a little laboured. I lost count of the amount of times Maryon describe words tasting like silver, and how often she used the titular phrase, but between these minor grievances is a lovely story about growing up, family relationships and the friendship that can exist between sisters.

My thanks to the publishers for sending a copy.

Bookbag's Top Ten Children's Books About Weighty Subjects has some good recommendations for other books to get children thinking.

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You can read more book reviews or buy A Sea of Stars by Kate Maryon at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy A Sea of Stars by Kate Maryon at Amazon.com.

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