The Language of Stars

March 7, 2016
Hawes (Black Pearls: A Faerie Strand) transforms carelessness into redemption in a summer story that begins after a group of teens break into and throw a raging party at a beloved local poet’s cottage, trashing it and nearly burning it to the ground. (A note explains that the story is partly inspired by a similar 2008 incident involving Robert Frost’s summer home.) Sarah, Hawes’s wide-eyed narrator, has an innate poetic bent and only reluctantly took part in the break-in because of her popular boyfriend, Fry. Though Sarah’s relationship with Fry is central to the plot, the real romance is one of words. The teens are sentenced to restore the cottage and take a poetry course—taught by the house’s elderly owner, Rufus Baylor, who becomes a mentor to Sarah. Full of poetry and ideas, Sarah’s narration has an exuberant innocence, bringing a fresh and joyful quality to a story about a girl learning to love the possibilities that come with independence: the chance to discover one’s true self and desires, while forging a path forward that might fulfill them. Ages 12–up. Agent: Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown.

Narrator Katie Schorr's voice is soft as she begins Sarah Wheeler's first-person story. This gentleness conveys the meekness of a girl who is cowed by her boorish father, controlling mother, and domineering boyfriend. Schorr's gentle tone also represents Sarah's dreamy, poetic side. Her conflicted feelings intensify as Sarah ignores her convictions and parties in a museum that is dedicated to her town's hero, Poet Laureate Rufus Baylor. When the museum is destroyed, the wrongdoers must take a class with Baylor himself. Schorr captures Baylor's melodic Southern tones, disarming charm, and growing tenderness toward Sarah. Gradually, her narration reflects Sarah's increasing belief in herself and discovery of what's truly important to her. Schorr's excellent portrayals are crucial to a this character-driven novel. S.W. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine