Starminster

By Author / Illustrator

Megan Hopkins

Genre

Fantasy

Age range(s)

Publisher

HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN

9780008626891

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

25-04-2024

Synopsis

Take flight on this beautifully-written, epic and soaring new adventure, perfect for fans of Abi Elphinstone, Aisling Fowler, A. F. Steadman and Pari Thompson.

Astrid has lived in the rhubarb shed her whole life. The outside world is dangerous, Mama explains; she will understand when she's older, but she cannot set foot beyond the door. Astrid longs to see the world; to meet other children; to live in the farmhouse with Mama. But what she longs for most of all is to see the stars.

Then one night, a stranger unlocks the shed: a stranger with wings. She has come to take Astrid to a secret city in the sky called London Overhead, far above the highest peak of the Shard. For Astrid, like her, is a Librae - and will soon grow wings of her own . . .

Astrid is swept into a breathtaking and magical world of new friendships, sweeping adventures and unimaginable discoveries at the ancient, beautiful school for Librae students: Starminster. But quickly she learns that all is not well in the glimmering city. And when rumours abound of missing children in London Underfoot, she begins to realise that Mama may have been right about the dangers waiting for Astrid all along . . .

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Reviews

Jenny

"Astrid has lived in the rhubarb shed her whole life." When just the first line of the blurb of a story has you immediately burning with intrigue, then you know that the story that lies ahead is going to be captivating. Starminster is a simply stunning story about a life in the skies, where humans who are Librae and have hidden wings can soar above the city and live in London Overhead, free to swoop and beat their amazing feathered wings as they wish.

Astrid is 11 and her entire life has been spent locked in a rhubarb shed. She has a loving mother who feeds, clothes, educates her, is warm and kind and caring - but who claims the world outside is too dangerous by far for Astrid to step outside. Astrid longs for the stars and to see celestial skies.

One truly despairing night, a stranger, with wings, arrives to sweep Astrid off her feet, taking her to the dizzy heights of Starminster; an unbelievable, ancient Librae school where young students eagerly await the emergence of their fledgling wings and learn how to exist in both London Underfoot and in this magical alternative city for the winged. Yet coming from a place of dark solitude, Astrid is shell-shocked at the overwhelming pace, noise and especially lights and visions and, despite her confinement at the hands of her own mother, misses her loving parent deeply.

London Overhead has its dark secrets, too - the strictness of the Headmaster of Starminster, Mr Finifugal, seems cruel and there are rumours of a connection to missing children from London Underfoot. Life nearer the stars, that she so badly longed for, does not all glitter and shimmer for Astrid.

In Starminster, a fantastical world is created by the author that is so imaginative in details such as 'nesthomes', flower-shaped buildings and bridges of steel and rope; so diverse in the descriptions of the inhabitants of the Librae world and their backgrounds; so beautifully, creatively and unique in the visions of humans unfurling their majestic variety of wings. Aspects of the narration, such as the imagery and the shadowy secrets that lie in London Overhead, bring to mind David Almond's Skellig.

I love that Astrid's journey to become her true self is full of such raw emotions. Nothing comes easily and so much is not what it appears to be. The shining light of the story is her new-found friendship with Pent and other fledging students, giving her the sense of belonging that Astrid has dreamt of.

Dark secrets of the airbourne world are brought to light as Astrid takes flight into the reader’s heart. Mesmerizing and marvellous.

288 pages / Reviewed by Jennifer Caddick, teacher