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71st out of 95 books
—
698 voters
Keeping Safe the Stars
When crisis hits, a young girl becomes the only one left to take care of her family
Pride, Nightingale and Baby are the Stars. Orphaned and living with their grandfather, Old Finn, in rural Minnesota, the children, like their grandfather, are wary of outsiders. They believe, as Old Finn taught them, in self-reliance.
But then Old Finn falls seriously ill and is taken to the...more
Pride, Nightingale and Baby are the Stars. Orphaned and living with their grandfather, Old Finn, in rural Minnesota, the children, like their grandfather, are wary of outsiders. They believe, as Old Finn taught them, in self-reliance.
But then Old Finn falls seriously ill and is taken to the...more
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published
October 11th 2012
by Putnam Juvenile
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This book is a charming read, with likeable, spunky characters and a clever angle on a touchstone moment in the 1970s. While I really liked these quirky characters and thought they were drawn well, the central conflict between telling the truth and lying seemed hard to support the entire way through. To me, it seemed so necessary that Pride tell lies to survive that I could not completely sympathize with her sister's condemnation. I felt as if there were another question that needed to be asked...more
Since their mother died, the Star children have lived with their grandpa, Old Finn. The family keeps to itself on the family farm Old Finn refers to as Eden in rural Minnesota. But when Old Finn develops an infection that sends him to the hospital in Duluth, 13-year-old Pride is left in charge of the farm and her siblings, 9-year-old Nightingale and 6-year-old Baby.
But even a self-sufficient teenager can’t run a household with no money and no transportation. When the kids start to attract attent...more
But even a self-sufficient teenager can’t run a household with no money and no transportation. When the kids start to attract attent...more
Terrific story of three orphaned kids trying to make it without any adult help, when their grandfather and guardian "Old Finn" falls suddenly ill. The kids' early upbringing, and his distrust of authorities, have made them all very wary of strangers--if people know they are alone, will they be sent back into the foster system that they briefly hated before Old Finn took them in?
The kids try some amusing and only partly successful attempts to make money to buy food, and then to buy bus tickets t...more
The kids try some amusing and only partly successful attempts to make money to buy food, and then to buy bus tickets t...more
In the tradition of WHERE THE LILIES BLOOM, THE HOMECOMING and the more recent SUMMER OF THE GYPSY MOTHS, this is a story about kids who try their mightiest to care for themselves on their land in rural Minnesota after their grandfather is stricken with encephalitis and hospitalized. It helps that Old Finn is suspicious of authority and has trained the three kids in self-reliance, but various adults in their community are inquisitive enough about what's happened to their grandfather and how the...more
When Pride's grandfather, Old Finn, is taken to the hospital with encephalitis, Pride knows that she can't tell the authorities that she and her sisters, Nightingale and Baby, have no one to look after them except the elderly and slightly bewildered Miss Addie. The siblings were in foster care once, after the death of their parents, but have enjoyed being with Old Finn on his farm, being home schooled by him and keeping to themselves. In The Boxcar Children fashion, Pride sets out to feed and ca...more
Full review and author interview a Cracking the Cover
Sheila has a way of translating complex relationships and situations into something accessible for young readers while maintaining a maturity that defies age limits. “Keeping Safe the Stars” is equally enjoyable for a 10-year-old as it is for a 32-year-old. Her prose transcends expectations as she slips seamlessly into a time a place both new and familiar at the same time.
Each of the main characters are well-developed and likeable in their own...more
Sheila has a way of translating complex relationships and situations into something accessible for young readers while maintaining a maturity that defies age limits. “Keeping Safe the Stars” is equally enjoyable for a 10-year-old as it is for a 32-year-old. Her prose transcends expectations as she slips seamlessly into a time a place both new and familiar at the same time.
Each of the main characters are well-developed and likeable in their own...more
Thoroughly enjoyable, absolutely charming, it is a great addition to the shelf that holds Savvy, The Exiles and the Casson Family books by Hilary McKay, and The Penderwicks series.
Orphans living with their Grandpa, Old Finn, they are funny and loving. They are independent and strong kids, home-schooled, but get thrown for a loop when Old Finn suddenly heads to the doctor but doesn't come back home.
The kids pull together and figure out what they have to do to find, and then bring back home, Old...more
Orphans living with their Grandpa, Old Finn, they are funny and loving. They are independent and strong kids, home-schooled, but get thrown for a loop when Old Finn suddenly heads to the doctor but doesn't come back home.
The kids pull together and figure out what they have to do to find, and then bring back home, Old...more
Life has been filled with upheavals for the Stars. Their father died of cancer, their mother died in a car accident. The kids were in foster care until the grandfather they didn't really know came to get them out. He took them to his farm in Minnesota to raise. He was something of a hermit; a former history professor who got in trouble with the government for protesting the Vietnam War. He is determined to raise the kids to be independent. But when he falls suddenly ill with encephalitis, the ki...more
I won this book at the Spring Spirit SCBWI conference this past spring. For some reason I was expected to ONLY choose one book out of more than fifty. I read the book flap of “Keeping Safe the Stars,” by Sheila O’Connor and knew after reading the main character’s names, Pride, Nightingale and Baby, I had to have this book. Set during the time of President’s Nixon’s resignation, communes, the end of the Vietnam War and hippies I would almost call this book historical fiction.
Pride is the oldest...more
Pride is the oldest...more
Keeping Safe the Stars is a beautifully written middle grade novel by acclaimed literary author Sheila O'Connor. This book follows on the heels of O'Connor's last MG novel, Sparrow Road, but I think this new book is even better. It tells the tale of three children whose grandfather has fallen ill, leaving them to fend for themselves. The characters are dynamic and memorable; the plot gradually builds layer by layer; by the time you reach the final act, you will be sad that the story is ending. T...more
This is an underappreciated book this year. While it doesn't make my top ten list, it is so much better than so many similar books this year (One for the Murphys, Summer of the Gypsy Moths). Please solve the mystery, someone, of why certain books get attention and others don't.
Sort of a HOMECOMING Jr. I liked all the characters and the setting. The grandfather's illness was distressingly realistic. I wouldn't have minded a little more magical thinking there... The cover blurb makes this sound mu...more
Sort of a HOMECOMING Jr. I liked all the characters and the setting. The grandfather's illness was distressingly realistic. I wouldn't have minded a little more magical thinking there... The cover blurb makes this sound mu...more
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Pride, Nightingale, and Baby have been through a lot in their short lives. Losing both of their parents and winding up in a shelter before their Grandfather, Old Finn, shows up to claim them. They move from the commune in New Mexico to Old Finn's quiet 40 acres known as Eden in rural Minnesota. Old Finn keeps to himself and they accept this arrangement and are home schooled in academics and life skills right up to the day Old Finn takes sick and goes into the hospital. Nothing Old Finn taught th...more
The three Star children live a simple but rich life with their grandpa on a farm in rural Minnesota. Old Finn has raised his grandchildren to be self-reliant and skeptical of others offering help. When Old Finn becomes ill and is taken to the hospital, the three children, Pride, Nightingale and Baby, do their best to fend for themselves without letting anyone know Old Finn is in the hospital. As hard as they try, they realize their self-reliance won't keep them safe nor will it make Old Finn bet...more
There were some things I liked about this one, but ultimately, it didn't stand out from all the other "kids left to fend for themselves" books out there. And frankly, I was pretty annoyed at the parallel drawn between Nixon's lies and Pride's lies. Kids in today's world know all about stranger danger, so it must seem pretty strange to them that Nightingale condemns Pride for lying to keep her family safe from strangers. I know it seemed pretty strange to me. And guess what. I grew up in that era...more
set in the 70′s with a background of the Watergate Trials, the turmoil of the Vietnam War and the proliferation of cults and communes, the Stars have already survived a lot - but there will be more.
Imagine being 13 and finding yourself alone with the responsibility of taking care of your little brother and sister. You’ve already been orphaned and taken by the state – will it happen again? The Stars are determined that they will be fine until Old Finn comes home, but the wait gets longer and long...more
Imagine being 13 and finding yourself alone with the responsibility of taking care of your little brother and sister. You’ve already been orphaned and taken by the state – will it happen again? The Stars are determined that they will be fine until Old Finn comes home, but the wait gets longer and long...more
A completely unrealistic story about children who start a business and try to survive on their own. Throughout the read all I could not push out my head these children as raggedy, white-trash kids in a run down, rural area not unlike the setting of the movie, "Winter's Bone." Keeping in mind the story is set in the 1970s and not 2012, it was still completely ridiculous that a 12-year-old with virtually no education would be able to accomplish the activities described in the book. I also do not f...more
Didn't like this much. Set in the early 1970s with way too many references to communes, hippies and Nixon's impeachment. Just the kind of tale every 12 year old in 2013 is dying to read.
It tells the story of three orphans who are living with their Grandpa somewhere in Minnesota. Unfortunately, Grandpa gets sick and they are pretty much on their own and they are terrified of being found out. "Keeping Safe the Stars" could have been a goofy story, it could have been poignant. Instead it was just a...more
It tells the story of three orphans who are living with their Grandpa somewhere in Minnesota. Unfortunately, Grandpa gets sick and they are pretty much on their own and they are terrified of being found out. "Keeping Safe the Stars" could have been a goofy story, it could have been poignant. Instead it was just a...more
First book I have read by this author and it won't be my last. Really enjoyed it and will recommend to Grand A as I think she will like it too.
This book is set against the backdrop of President Nixon's resignation, and of course Old Finn (grandpa) couldn't be happier with the outcome...but by the time it happens things have changed drastically for this tight knit family that came to be when the parents of Pride, Nightingale and Baby have both died and they come to live with Old Finn and learn t...more
This book is set against the backdrop of President Nixon's resignation, and of course Old Finn (grandpa) couldn't be happier with the outcome...but by the time it happens things have changed drastically for this tight knit family that came to be when the parents of Pride, Nightingale and Baby have both died and they come to live with Old Finn and learn t...more
So frustrating to read a book that has great potential, but just loses it. Pride, Nightingale and Baby (aka Kathleen, Elsie and Baxter) are orphans who have never known a normal home: first they lived on a commune, Serenity, with their parents, then they were 'in care' and for the past two years they've lived with Old Finn, their grandfather, on his farm, Eden. They've never gone to regular school, and their idiosyncrasies have been indulged by parents and grandfather. Then Old Finn gets sick -...more
Pride, Nightingale, and Baby are three siblings taken in by their grandfather Old Finn after their mother died unexpectedly. Old Finn suddenly gets ill and is hospitalized. Pride, 13 years old, does her best to take of her two younger siblings; she had been taught to be self-reliant and independent while living on a commune with her mother and again with Old Finn, who prefers to live a quiet, hermit-like life.
Things spiral out of control after Pride, Nightingale, and Baby decide to start a busi...more
Things spiral out of control after Pride, Nightingale, and Baby decide to start a busi...more
Pride and her two younger siblings, Nightingale and Baby, live with their grandfather, Old Finn. They live on a remote property that Old Finn calls Eden. But when Old Finn enters the hospital and is then transferred to Duluth for more serious treatment, it is left to Pride to care for her family. She had been taught by Old Finn not to rely on charity from others, so she makes sure to not accept help that she can’t pay for. She also knows that if anyone finds out that they are alone at Eden excep...more
Sheila O'Connor's Keeping Safe the Stars feels destined to become a classic on par with Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia. It is the story of three orphan children who must fend for themselves when their grandfather (their only caretaker) is taken to a hospital far from their home. Pride, Nightingale, and Baby have been raised to be fiercely independent and loyal to each other above all else, so when things get tough, Pride, the oldest, starts coming up with ideas to keep her siblings safe. This i...more
Three children try to get by when their guardian (and Grandpa) becomes very ill and leaves the family farm for medical attention- set in the 70's during the days leading up to Nixon's resignation. The children try to hide that they are all alone (fearing they will be placed in a foster home or separated), they also try to make money so they can make the trip to Duluth to see their grandpa. Story moves along at a steady pace as a few well meaning adults in the area figure out the children's situa...more
I liked this book a lot more than I expected to. "Kids trying to make it on their own" is a common theme in YA/middle grade books, and it's not one of my favorite conceits. Still, there was a lot to like here, including the distinct personalities of Pride, Nightingale, and Baby (the kids in question), as well as their eccentric older neighbor who was fragile enough that I found myself worrying about *her* as much as about the kids. I liked the Northern Minnesota setting, too, and could picture i...more
Set in 1974 (an unusual time period for a middle grade book), three siblings are left alone when their grandfather (and guardian) falls gravely ill and disappears into a hospital. Left to their own devices, they are surprisingly resourceful, although clearly their situation is going to come to a head - the question that motivated me to keep turning pages was whether they’d run out of money, be discovered, or finally break down and tell their neighbor first.
There seems to be a trend lately of stories about kids on their own. This one did not disappoint. I will be recommending it to kids who need a historical fiction. I love that O'Connor sets her books in the 1970's.
Of course there was the requisite deceased mother in Stars. However, I liked that there were plenty of adults hanging around the kids to avoid anything too uncomfortable. And I liked that there was a happy ending.
Of course there was the requisite deceased mother in Stars. However, I liked that there were plenty of adults hanging around the kids to avoid anything too uncomfortable. And I liked that there was a happy ending.
Apr 28, 2013
Sonia Gensler
added it
Poignant story that reminded me of DEAR LOLA, by Judy Angell. (Hadn't thought of that book for a long time, but it certainly made an impression on me when I was a kid.) Loved the Star family, and oh how I ached for them during their many low periods and perils! Unforgettable characters and setting.
Keeping Safe the Stars is a tender, fast-moving, beautifully written novel that kept me reading through the last page. Like her previous book, Sparrow Road, it is about the ways in which families let us down and save us. Authentic, unforgettable characters and a hard-won but totally satisfying ending.
I really liked this book so much. It is JF and such a sweet story of family coming together in time of crisis,and working together with each others strengths. I love how they learn to let go of things that are not important to keep the peace. A story of pure kindness, love and generosity.
I met Shelia O'Connor at the IRA Convention in Chicago so I could congratulate her on her first book for young adults Sparrow Road which won the IRA Award for Intermediate Fiction. She gave me an autographed advanced copy of Keeping Safe the Stars. Here is a new story about children living on there own. Meet the three Stars led by self-reliant Pride who keeps her siblings together after her grandpa Old Finn falls ill. Set in a Thoreau like Walden, the group uses what they have been taught to kee...more
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