Eighty-nine questions for after by Ashleigh Barton

"Every moment matters"

Ester is a tidy girl who carefully regulates her life. She is also a girl with so many fears that she seems to be way too cautious. Everything is sanitised and all dangers are avoided if possible. Her mind is filled with questions which she notes down in her book - one on each page - mostly about unsolved mysteries. She is sure these questions will be answered in the afterlife. Once her life was actually carefree, then her Dad and Grandma Maggie died and so now all she can see is danger everywhere. She even avoids a flowering bush in their garden in case there are bees which could sting her.

"She hopped in on Mum's side of the car and climbed across the console to get into her seat, just in case the hot pink flowers were full of bees. Not that Ester had anything against bees in general, but she had never been stung before and didn't want to take the chance that she was allergic. She wasn't willing to risk having an anaphylactic reaction and ending up in a real hospital with actual sick people. Or worse."

Ester is terrified of getting sick so when mum tells her that after school she will need to wait at the hospice where she works, Ester is certain this will be the worst place ever. Luckily, she is able to sit in the almost empty sitting room with a lovely view of the garden and there she meets a boy named Peter who, unlike others in her life, IS interested in her big book of questions. They sit together each afternoon doing homework and talking about the questions. 

Ester does not want to meet any residents but her mum introduces her to Joan and it is Joan who sets Ester on a course to solve a mystery and along the way to gain courage and make two friends. I am mentioning two friends because aside from Peter a new family have moved in next door and they have four kids including a girl named Mackenzie (Mack). Mackenzie has an ambition to become a Private Eye Detective.

What is the mystery? Joan lost her sister 62 years ago. They were circus performers. All she has is a faded photograph and a flyer from the circus. Can these fragments give Ester and Mack enough clues to solve this mystery and reunite the sisters? They will need to hurry because after all Joan is now living in the hospice and so clearly her life is nearing its end. 

(Did you ever read a book called Boss of the Pool by Robin Klein? The scenes in Eight-Nine questions for after where Ester tries to avoid meeting the people who live in Sunflower Cottage reminded me of that book.)

Publisher blurb: Ester Star is a germophobe and hypochondriac and she's convinced she's going to die. To prepare for her imminent and inevitable demise, Ester keeps a list of all the questions she hopes to have answered in the afterlife - things she knows she'll never have the answers to during her lifetime. What really happened to the dinosaurs? Just how big is the universe? Are ghosts real? She's up to eighty-nine questions and counting. When Ester's usual after-school sitters announce they are moving away, her mum comes up with an alternative arrangement that turns her world upside down. 

Every day after school, Ester is to spend her afternoons with Mum at work. At a hospice. Terrified of all the things she might catch at a hospice; Ester is anxious every second she's there. But soon she meets Joan, an elderly lady who used to be in the circus. Joan tells Ester she doesn't believe in the afterlife, but she does have one question she'll regret never having answered while she's alive. Why did her sister disappear all those years ago, after they had been so close growing up in the circus together? With the help of Peter, another kid who spends his afternoons at the hospice, and her new next-door neighbour, a tech whizz named Mackenzie, Ester sets out to have Joan's question answered. Will Ester realise there's more to life than worrying about dying?

Ester is the main character in this story but it is Mack (Mackenzie) who I really wanted to meet and hug. She is so wonderful in the way she seems to understand Ester and all her fears and phobias but at the same time she is always ready to push Ester to try new, and sometimes, very daring things.

"That's the trick about fear,' Mackenzie said. 'If you act like you're not scared, you'll trick your brain into believing that you're not. That's my theory anyway. It's not always possible, but it usually works for me."

If you grew up in Sydney in the 1960s or 1970s you may well remember the African Safari park - it terrified me. The scene from page 162 onwards would be a perfect way to introduce this book to your library group.

You can hear Asheigh Barton reading the opening chapters of her book here (start at 2.38). In this post for Paperbark Words Ashleigh talks about the inspiration for her book and the research she completed. The publisher Hachette have made a set of book club discussion questions to use with Eighty-nine questions for after. 

Both of these reviews have lots of plot details:

This is a tender book, which is equally heartbreaking and joyous, filled with adventure and experiences, and learning to live. Learning to see life as more than dying and asking the big questions. It is also about friendship and acceptance. Peter and Mackenzie accept Ester for who she is. They don’t judge, and they seem to understand she is the way she is, which I thought was beautiful. She was allowed to have her fears and worries, and allowed to grow throughout the novel. The Book Muse

Those important themes of loss, grief, anxiety, mortality are deftly handled and paired with hope, joy, empathy and kindness. Ester’s character arc is handled with such skill as we see her gentle but sure transformation. There is never a second that this becomes trite or mawkish, it is always essentially authentic and the reader cannot help becoming fully immersed in the plot and, most definitely, liking these characters – even the irascible ones. Just So Stories

I've been a bit of a reading slump for a couple of weeks - until today! I don't know why but I was sure Eight-nine questions for after would be a good book - and now it discover it is so much more - it is a fabulous book and an absolute page turner. I read the whole 271 pages in one sitting. This book will be a CBCA 2026 Younger Readers Notable and hopefully also on the shortlist. I love the way this book has Australian place names but the story still feels as though it will easily translate to an audience in the US or UK. 

Eight-nine Questions for After is a book with a big heart. It is story that I am sure will linger with me for a long time. 

Companion books:

Long Road to the Circus

Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth

The Remarkable Secret of Aurelie Bonhoffen

As Brave as You

The Goldfish boy

Busted

Magnolia Wu Unfolds it all

Snap (this is a very old book and long out of print)

If you want to build on the idea of asking questions - Ester has a book with 89 questions and luckily they are all listed in the back of the book. Ester's questions are used as Chapter titles - I really liked this structure. Here are some other excellent books filled with questions:

Pablo Neruda Book of Questions

Twenty Questions

Where does pepper come from?

Ashleigh Barton goes from strength to strength with her writing. Here is her web page.  Check out my previous posts:

Freddie Spector Fact Collector

How to sail to Somewhere

Bravepaw and the Songstone of the Deep by LM Wilkinson illustrated by Lavanya Naidu

Titch (Tithonia Proudleaf) has been charged with the task of collecting the four Gems of Harmony - Clawstone, Fangstone, Dreamstone and Songstone. Titch herself cannot believe this is true but it seems she is the new Bravepaw. As this fourth book opens we read that Titch is again on her quest to find the gems - now she needs the Dreamstone and the Songstone.

"Maybe the Dreamstone would be easy to find - safe in the royal treasury. Maybe the Songstone would be there too. Maybe, with all the gems reunited, she could hand the staff to Prince Vetiver and let him battle the Deadroot. Then she and Huckleberry could go home to the Plateau, and everything would be alright again."

Spoiler alert - by page 95 Titch has the Dreamstone but finding the Songstone is going to be so much more treacherous. Titch and her two friends - Huckleberry and Briar Nettlebrush will need to return to the Plateau because it has been engulfed by an enormous crack and hordes of curseworms and then Titch learns another part of the prophecy:

Deep at the end of everything

rests the final stone.

It can only be found if you

journey alone.

United the gems

will close the crack.

But if you triumph alone,

you can never come back.

And there are also the words of the Oglethorpe prophecy:

In the time of greatest need

Pay the highest price

The purest of heart must make

The greatest sacrifice

Curseworms are dreadful but there are other horrors that emerge through the crack - Abyss Hounds and  Skitterlings.

"The cloud was made up of monsters - small, leather-winged creatures with sharp claws and even sharper teeth."

At its heart, however, this is a story about friendship, loyalty, responsibility and discovering the courage within yourself. Readers will enjoy cheering on Titch as she faces deep feelings of fear and uncertainty and continuing even when the challenge seems overwhelming. Read Plus

Here we are at the finale, the book that the previous three have been building to as the search for the final two stones comes to a head, and as characters from the previous three books come back, as do the prophecies from a chicken that they’re still trying to make sense of. So, this is a series best read in order. Each book follows on directly from the previous one, diving right into the action and getting Titch and her crew exactly where they need to be when they need to be. The Book Muse

Before you read this fourth book please check out my blog posts for the first three from the series. Your young reading companion will need to start at the beginning and read all four because that will make the heroism of Titch and her huge group of new friends all the more wonderful. Plus in this newest book nearly all the characters we met previously have returned including the wonderfu Earna the eaglebear and Master Sticklepin the hedgehog librarian. Here is a video review.

Bravepaw and the Heartstone of Alluria; Bravepaw and the Clawstone of Rotwood Mire; Bravepaw and the Fangstone of Flintfall

Bookseller blurb for Bravepaw and the Songstone of the Deep: Titch and Huckleberry have journeyed a long way from their cosy home on the Plateau - and all they want to do is go home, eat some tasty plums and play in the cooling stream. But Titch is a hero now, whether she likes it or not, and heroes do not give up, not when Alluria needs heroes more than ever before! Titch knows that there are many ways to be brave, and she has friendship, brave and true, on her side - but will that be enough to stand against the forces of darkness, when all of Alluria is cracking open? Now, at the final hour, will the prophecy be fulfilled? Can Bravepaw unite the Gems of Harmony and save the world?

This is the fourth and final book in the Bravepaw series and I have thoroughly enjoyed each of them. I actually squealed when I saw this final installment in a bookstore.

If I still worked in a school library I would love to showcase this set on a display - even their spines are special! And if I worked in a school I would really want to give this series to a class teacher as a set of books to read aloud - not to study, not to complete worksheets, just for the sheer joy of reading wonderful books which feature courage, heroism, battles, teamwork, friendship and of course a quest to save the world!

Birdy by N West Moss

I need to try and be happier—but I don’t know how

When they told her that her mother had finally died, Birdy lay on the floor of the McGraths’ apartment (they had been next-door neighbors for Birdy’s whole life), sirens wailing outside, and thought the world would stop, but it hadn’t. After a while, she heard noise on the street below: people shouting, taxis honking. The world kept spinning. When the McGraths brought home chocolate ice cream that night, it tasted good, which was surprising. Life moved forward.

Birdy (her real name is May) and her brother Mouse (his real name is Michael) are sent to live with distant, elderly relatives named Mitzie and Shadow. Birdy is told this is temporary until a foster family can be found. She is told she will be able to stay with her precious brother - they won't be separated. But are these things true. What if Birdy and Mouse are separated? What if these strangers don't like her? 

The urgent thing was to stay together. The only thing they carried with them of any value now was one another.

She thought of saying a lot of things, like thank you for taking us and thanks for keeping us together and thank you for coming all the way to New York City even with your husband in the hospital, and for not asking a lot of questions, but Birdy hated saying thank you all the time. It made her feel needy, which she guessed she was. “Okay,” she said again, to fill the quiet of her missing thank-yous.

Birdy wondered why Mitzie and Shadow wanted them. She had thought maybe they were broke and wanted kids there to do chores. Why else would two old people take kids into their house? It didn’t seem like that, though—they didn’t seem broke.

Birdy is on high alert. She has been ever since her mum became ill. Taking care of Mouse is her responsibility. In a way Birdie has never had the chance to be a child - to play, to laugh, to make friends or to have fun. 

She tried not to think about her mom dying all alone in the hospital without the two of them there, coughing a lot probably, no one to hold her hand. The painful thoughts spooled out from Birdy like she was a ball of misery twine. She didn’t want to think about how much she missed her mother, or how mad she was at her for dying, or for being so sad, or for leaving Birdy in charge all the time. She was mad at her mother for having to work so much, and for being impatient.

As is often the way with stories like this there are so many heart-wrenching misunderstandings. These of course give this story so much tension that you will just keep turning pages desperate for that all important, happy ending.

One of the most beautiful (and teary moments) in this story comes when Birdy visits the charity shop. She is looking for new clothes but we know she also loves to read. One of the staff offers her The Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt but Birdy says no (inside my heart I was telling Birdie to say yes). 

“We just got a whole set of the Tillerman Cycle books.” When Birdy didn’t say anything, he said, “They’re old I guess, but my sister loved them. With this kid named Dicey who runs away from home with her brothers and sisters.” That sounded interesting, but Birdy tried to act like she wasn’t listening. ... “I can give you a deal if you want the set.” Birdy waved her hand and hunched over and walked as fast as she could to the register, carrying her clothes in her arms. She didn’t have seven dollars to buy all those books. Forget it. Go away, she thought. GO AWAY. ... “Hey,” he said to Birdy. “We have to make room for new books just coming in, and if you want these you can have the whole set for a dollar.” His voice trailed off. “If you want.” He waited. “I checked with my boss and she said it was fine. A dollar for all seven.” 

I guarantee you will fall in love with the characters in this story and with the kindness offered by Mitzie, Shadow and most of all by the new uncle the kids meet - a guy named Clay. Then there is teenage camp counsellor named Bruce - I just wanted to hug him for his kindness, sensitivity and emotional intelligence.

He was really looking at them, like they were the only people in the world and he was seriously interested in them. He looked at them like he had all the time in the world, like there was nothing better on earth to do than to spend time right there with them in the driveway. So, this was her mother’s brother.

I added this book to my Kindle because Colby Sharp highly recommended it and BOY oh boy he was right. N West Moss is actually Nanette West Moss and this is not her first book but it is her first Middle Grade book.

There's something oddly comforting about this story. Maybe I just want to hang out with Mitzi while she bakes in the kitchen. Ms Yingling

Bookseller blurb: Eleven-year-old Birdy and her younger brother, Mouse, have always looked out for each other. They make the perfect team: Birdy is realistic and practical, while Mouse is affable and trusting. After their mother dies of cancer, Birdy and Mouse are forced to move out of the city to the country with relatives they've never met. Aunt Mitzie and Uncle Shadow's house is full of organized chaos, and it takes Birdy time to adjust to having adults around. But the kitchen is always stocked, and both kids are allowed to play outside as often as they want. There's only one problem: it's all temporary. Their social worker has promised to find them a permanent home by the next school year, whether they want to leave or not. As the summer unfolds, Mouse starts to feel attached to their new life. But Birdy knows better-adults have never been reliable. When Birdy's fears get the best of her, she makes a big mistake that could jeopardize their future.

Here are two more beautiful quotes:

It was peaceful, like they were healing up after a long illness or something. A thought was forming in the back of Birdy’s mind (one she wouldn’t understand completely until later) that maybe sitting with your brother, or whoever loves you most in the world, is how a person grieves. Piling little rocks and leaves and feathers on top of one another can make you start to feel like your chest isn’t collapsing. While she was looking for stuff to pile on top of other stuff, she had a sense of what “better” might feel like and how to steer toward it.

It was a sudden feeling that inflated something in her, like drinking too much soda in one gulp. She didn’t want to like him. She knew that hope was a dangerous thing that could make you feel especially good and then when the truth of things came out, however high up your hope had taken you was how far down you would fall.

Companion books:

Missing May

Same Stuff as Stars

The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman

One for the Murphys

The Higher Power of Lucky

Something like Home

Pictures of Hollis Woods

Hari's Bones by Danny Parker illustrated by Rache Antonio with music by Matt Ottley

Hari is a cautious girl. She shuns danger because she wants to stay safe. She needs to avoid physical and emotional harm. Hari holds all her bones in a bag but she does have dreams and she certainly doesn't just sit around doing nothing. She can see things to explore in the world and beyond and so she flies her kite, uses a net to gather feathers and from her feather seat she watches the unfolding universe and constellations. But then the day comes when Hari needs to break out of her safety bubble.

The kids call out to her. Hari is standing in the outfield of the ball game, and the ball is heading her way. She needs to catch it but this is risky. Hari will need to overcome her fears, grab that ball and run. Doing this she makes an amazing discovery:

"She peaked at her bones - not a scratch! Her eyes sparkled."

Hari finds she can join in - she can dodge and hop and swerve and spin and splash and still be okay. It seems her dream of reaching the moon might now come true, so it is time to work her plans (blueprints) and models. Her future is filled with endless possibilities.

When you reach the final page of this book - please stop and ponder the final end paper. It shows a small paper aeroplane moving over the night sky and reaching high to the stars showing the endless possibilities Hari can now enjoy. Now go back to the first spread - this same image has been used to open this story showing Hari always had the potential to follow her dreams. These two images beautifully book end the story.

Bookseller blurb: A story for the curious. Hari is always trying to avoid trouble, but one day, trouble comes to find her. To her surprise, the very things she's done to stay safe become her superpowers. A story for the curious, gentle risk-takers, those who suspect there is more to adventure than climbing up and jumping off. Written by the award-winning author Danny Parker and illustrated by emerging illustrator Rache Antonio this children's picture book includes original music composed by acclaimed artist, Matt Ottley, with text narrated by the author.

This is a picture book for slightly older readers. I think many kids (and even some adults) will relate to these words from the text (I certainly did) and this quote could be a terrific way to open a conversation with your library group:

"Hari wouldn't climb a tree, wasn't tempted by trampolines, bicycles, skateboards or scooters."

Whether you share this book with younger children so they learn that being curious, creative, imaginative and quiet as they discover their world is perfectly acceptable, or with older children to help them understand how working towards their aspirations of the future helps shape who they are now, it is a must-have for any collection devoted to student well-being, identity and self-acceptance. A Book and a Hug

Something I often think about is the way an illustrator is sent the text for a picture book - perhaps just typed on one sheet of paper. In the case of Hair's Bones, the art of Rache Antonio works so well to extend the text and to add a rich additional layer of meaning to the story. Take a look at the terrific teachers notes from Scholastic which also include sample illustrations. 

It would be good to share Hair's Bones alongside another book by Danny Parker. I am sure it is no coincidence that this book from 2016 was illustrated by Matt Ottley:

Read more about Danny Parker here

I recently talked about Dany Parker's book Perfect illustrated by Freya Blackwood

Matt Ottely has created a musical accompaniment to enjoy alongside this book (there's a QR code at the back of Hari's Bones) and others. Matt did not do the art in this new book, but it does invite comparison with several of his previous titles which are also part of his "The Sound of Picture Books" project. Read more here. Our 2026 CBCA slogan is 'Symphony of Stories' - this work by Matt Ottley would be so perfect to share as you explore this theme - his work to add orchestral scores while the audience enjoy visuals from his books is an extraordinary experience.

Stickboy

How to make a bird

Teacup

You can see art from Hari's Bones and hear the music by Matt Ottley on the book trailer. 

IBBY Australia nominated Matt Ottley for the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen award in 2024 and back in 2019 I shared his work at the Texas Book festival. Thanks to Matt Ottley for sending me a review copy of Hari's Bones. 

In a previous blog post, I talked about how much I enjoyed the music Matt Ottely composed to go with the splendid book Dumazi and the Big Yellow Lion. 

Dumazi and the Big Yellow Lion

I also need to mention the beautiful art in Hair's Bones which comes from a new illustrator- Rache Antonio. She has been illustrating children’s books since 2022 as a means of capturing the wonder, humour, depth and complexity of the human spirit, and the world we live in. She has a degree in Fashion Design and Applied Arts from ECA and has worked in fashion, costume, music festival production and illustration.  Born and raised in rural Scotland, she now lives and works in Somerset, UK.

The Last Resort by Erin Entrada Kelly

"She went up one step. Two. She felt Teddy's breath on her neck. Another step. Another. Was it her imagination or was it getting darker and darker? Up another step. And another. The stairs creaked and moaned. She imaged herself as a brave, brave warrior, completely unafraid. She reminded herself that fear was what red them ... She thought of herself covered in blood ... She felt the fear growing in the pit of her stomach, sprouting and growing, and tried to damp it down. I'm not scare. I'm not scared."

I am not really a fan of ghost stories but one thing that the story needs to have is motivation. I need to know why the ghosts are there. In this case it is due to several crimes. One hundred and fifty years ago the circus that had come to town burned to the ground and all of the performers were killed. Investigators also discovered the ring master had been shot.

The second crime is more recent. Lila along with her brother and mother and father have moved into their grandfather's home. It was actually once run as an Inn. On the first night Lila is visited by the ghost of Grandfather Clem. He tells her he did not die from a heart attack - he was murdered. All he wants now is to go back through the portal so he can be reunited with his wife who died many years ago.

Now that we have the problem we can assemble the team to solve this - Lila, her brother Caleb and the boy from next door - Teddy. 

As with all mysteries (in books and on television) I tried to solve this before reaching the end. I thought I had worked out the murderer and his motivation, but things sure did get way more complicated in those final scenes. If you have readers aged 10+ who enjoy ghost stories and like books where kids solve a mystery then this is a book you can recommend. The writing is very atmospheric and Erin entrada Kelly does conjure some very tense scenes. Erin talks about her book in this video.  Ms Yingling includes lots of plot details in her review. 

Kirkus gave this book a star review: Hauntingly good and sure to possess any horror aficionado. It wasn't quite at that level for me but as I said I am not a huge fan of ghost stories and also I found it a little odd that Lila did not recognise the circus performers even though Teddy had already told her about the fire from last century. 

This book is the first in series and it contains extra materials which you access via a QR code. Decades ago I read another book from Scholastic that included an element like this but of course over time the link has disappeared. (The Skeleton in the Creek and The Ghost in the Machine). 

I love that the kids went to the library to read old newspaper reports about the circus fire. I also enjoy books that refer readers to other books - here is the one Teddy is reading when the kids go over to talk to him:

Here is the Goodreads blurb for Wait till Helen comes (1986): Heather is such a whiny little brat. Always getting Michael and me into trouble. But since our mother married her father, we're stuck with her ... our "poor stepsister" who lost her real mother in a mysterious fire. But now something terrible has happened. Heather has found a new friend, out in the graveyard behind our home—a girl named Helen who died with her family in a mysterious fire over a hundred years ago. Now her ghost returns to lure children into the pond ... to drown! I don't want to believe in ghosts, but I've followed Heather into the graveyard and watch her talk to Helen. And I'm terrified. Not for myself, but for Heather...

Companion book (just because it contains a mirror and the quest for immortality):

The Same Stuff as Stars by Katherine Paterson

“It means a lot to me,” she said, “you showing me the stars.” 

“It means a lot to me,” he said, “you wanting to see them.”

Before you read this book it is essential to read the introduction but I do need to say it made me cry. Katherine Paterson visited a jail many years ago and talked to a group of inmates about her book The Great Gilly Hopkins. Here is part of her introduction:

I do know that no child makes it without at least one caring adult in his or her life. ... “What’s your name?” I asked a young man handing me his book. “Oh, it’s not for me,” he said. “It’s for my daughter. Her name is Angel.” ... I wrote this book for the many Angels in our world. I hope they find it. And I hope those of us who are more fortunate will take a wiser, more empathetic look at the Angels in our midst and remember that we all are made from the same stuff, the stuff of stars.

Angel and her brother Bernie have very difficult lives. They keep moving house, dad is in jail, and mum seems to have no idea how to care for her kids so all of that responsibility falls onto the shoulders of eleven year old Angel. In the opening scene they go to the jail to visit her dad but then we learn that this will be the last visit - not because he is being released but because Verna has decided to move on again. This time, after a long drive to a remote farm house, they end up with an elderly relative Angel vaguely remembers - this is her great grandmother and things are about to become even more difficult for Angel. 

Things that I loved about the way Katherine Paterson has written this book:

• Little Bernie always repeats important words three times - he is so used to no one listening properly to what he has to say.
• I could almost taste all the food in this book - from the disgusting to the delicious. And I desperately wanted Angel to fill a glass with milk - she shouldn't have to keep worrying that there won't be enough for her brother. Luckily they do eat some delicious popsicles. 
• The Star man is a very special character who shows his love through his kind actions even though he knows his mother has decided he does not exist. Thank goodness he leaves food and milk on her doorstep each week. Spoiler alert - his funeral will leave make you cry.
• The town library (and the school library) are so important in this story as is the beautiful librarian Miss Liza. I would love to hug her tiny, damaged body. 
• Angel should not have to take on such enormous responsibilities of care for her young brother, but it is just so special the way she is always trying to keep him safe and happy - she truly loves him.
• Angels' huge toy bear named Grizzle is almost another character in the story. I loved the way he bought comfort to the kids, but I did want someone to give him a bath. 
• Even though there are really heavy themes in this book every now and then Katherine Paterson gives her read a tiny smile moment such as when Bernie says to Angel “How come you get to choose?” “Because I’m the biggest.” “You’re always the biggest.”
• There is a reference in this story to making Maple Syrup which took me right back to another book I read this year Just Like Jackie.
• I also find an old book series called The Stupids by Harry Allard illustrated by James Marshall (1974) - I didn't realise this was a real book! Well done to Miss Liza for sharing this book with Bernie - the right book at the right time!
• Miss Liza also gives Angel a perfect book - Know the Stars by AH Ray (1962). She left the library with three books and a heart too full to speak.

Here are a few text quotes to give you a flavour of this story:

Bernie was watching entirely too much television. Angel knew about the evils of too much TV for kids. It was like getting only sugar in your mental diet—like not eating all the five major food groups. Ms. Hallingford, Angel’s fifth-grade teacher, was big on the major food groups. She’d also said TV could be a really serious hindrance in a child’s mental development, in the same way not eating right could stunt your physical growth. Angel grabbed the remote and punched the red button.

“Hurry up, and I mean both of you. I swear, sometimes you kids act like snails on Valium. . . . Get a move on, will you?” How could Angel hurry? She stared dumbly into the closet. Verna had said she could take only what fit into the green plastic suitcase that Welfare had given her last year so she wouldn’t have to carry her stuff around in a garbage bag.

It was one thing to leave your kids in an all-night diner by mistake. It was something else to leave them in the country on purpose. That would be too much like Hansel and Gretel.

Everything was going to be all right. ... She knew it, sitting on those steps eating a cherry Popsicle, a real backpack on her back with books inside waiting to be read, and groceries in all five major food groups waiting to be bought. She didn’t have anything to worry about today, and she wasn’t going to get all stressed out about tomorrow. Not while she had the chill syrupy taste of a cherry Popsicle in her mouth.

But now she knew it was true. At least in her head she knew it was a fact. All the things that had happened to her and Bernie hadn’t been their fault. She was sick and tired of thinking it was her fault when they got left at cold apartments and all-night diners and grandmas ... 

Word placement is everything - and Katherine Paterson is a master of this. Look at the highlighted words in this sentence which reveals so much about young Angel and her circumstances. She is getting ready for bed - which is the lounge room couch. She does not turn on the light because that will mean trouble from Verna, her mother: She yanked hard and lifted up the couch seat, turning it into her bed. ... Then she fumbled in the top drawer of the dresser for her nightshirt, really just one of Verna’s old T-shirts, and slipped it over her narrow shoulders.

Look at this sentence too - Angel is thinking about her responsibilities and also about the time when she first held Bernie. Katherine Paterson weaves in a reference which echoes Angels new found interest in astronomy: The thrill was long gone, but the duty had become like the sun in the solar system, the center around which all the other parts of her life revolved. Without it, she would likely fly to pieces.

The heartbreaking abandonment of Angel and her brother is sure to remind you of The Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt.

I am not very good at reading chapter headings especially in a book as good as this one where I just wanted to keep 'turning the page' so anxious for the outcome. But here are some of the chapter headings so you can see they are important and have been carefully worded by Katherine Patterson: A Is for Astronomy; The Swan; Miss Liza of the Library; Know the Stars; To School We Go; Draco the Dragon; Polaris; Consider the Heavens; Galileo Galilei; Falling Stars; Stardust to Stardust; Take Something Like a Star; Shining Stars.

A gently written tale of family caught in the most corrosive of situations, this is a story of guilt and reconciliation. Kirkus Star review

Publisher blurb (from author webpage): Angel Morgan needs help. Her daddy is in jail, and her mother has abandoned Angel and her little brother, Bernie, at their great-grandmother’s crumbling Vermont farmhouse. Grandma, aged and poor, spends most of her time wrapped in a blanket by the woodstove and can’t care for the children. That’s left up to Angel, even though she is not yet twelve. In this dreary world of canned beans and peaches, of adult worries and loneliness, there is only one bright spot—a mysterious stranger who appears on clear nights and teaches Angel all about the stars and planets and constellations. Angel’s quest to carve out a new life for herself and Bernie makes for a powerful, moving story that could arise only from the keen sensitivity, penetrating sense of drama, and honed skill of master storyteller Katherine Paterson.

I follow Katherine Paterson on Facebook and a few days ago she posted an article from a US Newspaper called The Mountaineer. In their religion section the reported talked about this book - The Same Stuff as Stars - by Katherine Paterson (2002). I have read lots of her books but not this one. I shared this with my friend and she hadn't read it either so we have both decided to find and read The Same Stuff as Stars. I added it to my Kindle library and read the whole book in one day - yes, it is that good - a completely engrossing story filled with heartbreak and deep honesty.

Here is part of the newspaper article (in case the link requires a subscription):

Newbery and National Book Award honored writer Katherine Paterson (“Bridge to Terabithia,” “Jacob Have I Loved”) illustrates this in her powerful, yet bittersweet, young adult novel “The Same Stuff as Stars.” I encourage you to find a copy and enter a story that broadens your understanding of what it’s like to live in childhood poverty and to wish for words of approval — to know you are beloved when you are abandoned and feel worthless. We all need to be needed. The story also captures the vastness of the universe in which we live. ...

Now that I hope I have convinced you to read this book you will have to visit a library or read the ebook version as it is now sadly out of print (published 2002) and I couldn't find any suppliers but here is the paperback ISBN [9780544540309] just in case you have another way of searching. 

After reading this book you need to find this title by Peter Sis:

Read more here

You might also want to read the full poem: “Take Something Like a Star” from The Poetry of Robert Frost.

Companion books:

Ruby on the Outside

Alternate title The Faraway Truth

Something like home

The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman illustrated by Marcin Minor

When winds blow

Through Deadwood east

The undead monster waits to feast

On little bones

And braids

And toes

But don't you scream

Or its hunger grows!

While I did read this book fairly quickly, over a couple of days, it took me a little while to get used to the use of a girl's name - Clare for a male character - the undead fox.

What does undead mean? Well, when a creature dies it usually just heads off to the afterlife but there are some creatures that need help to find the right door or realm. This guiding or, as it is called here, the Ushering, is the job of the undead - in this case Clare the fox but there have been many others before him - Brickbane a fox; Eddifoot a racoon; Po an elk and Felix a moth. There are four destinations:

"Travel north from here and you'll find the realm of Peace ... for those who found joy in rest. Head east and you encounter the realm of Pleasure ... best suited to those who sought fun about all else. Directly west is Progress ... for those who loved work, service and effort. And finally travel south ... and one enters the realm of Pain."

Clare has been sending the souls who arrive at his cottage in Deadwood Forest to the 'right' door for over four years. He enjoys his work and loves tending to his extensive mushroom garden but deep in his heart he is lonely and also frightened because Brickbane told him, on the night of his death, that he was destined for Pain. And not only that a prophecy song is circulating:

"On All Hallows Eve, Deadwood will bring mayhem to Fernlight. And before the moon sets, one in Deadwood will vanish forever."

Then there is new arrival. It is a badger named Gingersnipes. Astute readers will realise something is wrong. Gingersnipes does not arrive in the usual way by knocking on Clare's door. When Clare sends Gingersnipes away to his assigned realm "he did not wait for the crackling sound of her departure".  This is a big mistake.

Hopefully now you have lots of unanswered questions. How did Clare die? Why did Gingersnipes arrive at this time? What does do the songs of All Hallows Eve mean? Who is the little girl with the red shoes? Can the message and advice from Hesterfowl be trusted? And most important of all what on earth is a braid?  (Of course, dear reader you know the answer to this final question but it is a mystery to Clare).

There is one very violent scene near the end of this book so I am going to say this is a book for mature readers aged 10+. 

All of this plot sounds every 'heavy' but there are some sweet touches of humour in this story and you are sure to enjoy meeting the rats at the dump named Nine and Two. The names of the mushrooms that Clare collects from the forest are also delightful. And I loved the way Clare always said 'travel true' as he sent lost souls off to their assigned realm. 

Here is a description of Clare's cottage:

"Clare, for example, had strung the ceiling with rows and rows of twine. The walls were lined with shelves crammed with jars of all shapes and colours, gathered from Deadwood Dump and filled with dried fungi. In the firelight the vessels glinted and glowed, splashing the hollow in jewelled hues."

Here is a line that made me smile - it is Gingersnipes speaking:

"I have a moose-sized bone to pick with you. Four times you sent me into that forest. And four times the coloured lights led me back here. Is this some sort of game? A test? Because I'm tired of it, fox!"

And later Gingersnipes says: "You're a tough nut to crack, Clare, and frankly I am not a squirrel!"

There is an interesting theme in this book about thirst - this is something I need to think a little more about. Being undead Clare does not need food or drink, but he makes special tea for all his visitors and so it seems important and very strange that once Gingersnipes arrives, and Clare's world shifts, he seems to be desperately thirsty all the time. 

Here is a description of Hesterfowl the grouse - "She wore a cloak of moss. A collar of bones encircled her short neck, some poor dead animal's rib cage fanning up and around her head. The feathers surrounding her eyes were smeared with berry pulp and groomed into sharp points." (I need to make special mention of the amazing illustrations in this book AND question why his name is not on the cover or title page. You can see his art here on Instagram). Marcin Minor lives in Poland.

Image source Instagram

I think it was the cover that first caught my attention. Checking some details I see the hardcover of this book arrived here in Australia in late February 2025 then, as I already mentioned I was given a generous book voucher for one of book chain stores here in Sydney - so when I saw they had the paperback which was released in April this book was an obvious first purchase.

SPOILER ALERT - Bookseller blurb: Clare is the undead fox of Deadwood Forest. Here, leaves grow in a perpetual state of fall: not quite dead, but not quite alive...just like Clare. Long ago, he was struck by a car, and, hovering between life and death, he was given the choice to either cross into the Afterlife or become an Usher of wandering souls. Clare chose the latter: stepping into a solitary life of helping souls meet their destiny. Clare's quiet and predictable days are met with upheaval when a badger soul named Gingersnipes (arrives). Despite Clare's efforts to usher her into the Afterlife, the badger is unable to find her way out of Deadwood. This is unprecedented. Baffling. A disturbing mystery which threatens the delicate balance of the living and the dead. Clare seeks the help of Hesterfowl--the visionary grouse who recently foretold of turmoil in Deadwood. But Hesterfowl divulges a shocking revelation about the badger that leaves Clare devastated, outraged, and determined to do anything to change their fate.

Read some young reader reviews - very insightful.

Heartbreaking, marvelously funny, and generously redemptive. Kirkus Star review

"I really love Gingersnaps" "A timeless book". Colby Sharp Newbery prediction.

US author Aubrey Hartman has written two books. Check out her webpage.  

Companion books:

Good Dog

Loteria

The Life and Time of Lonny Quicke

Magrit