South Star

South Star #1

by Betsy Hearne, Trina Schart Hyman

A young giant girl is chased from her ancestral home by the "Screamer."

"In a long-ago fantasy time, Megan—the last remaining daughter of a family of giants—is engulfed without warning in a terrible storm and separated from her parents . . . [Hearne] successfully creates suspense and casts and atmosphere of premeval magic."——The Horn Book Magazine

"Hearne's first fantasy for children says a great deal about founders and pioneers—those who stay and those who must push on—and about the changeable stars which guide them . . . a tale that is constantly on the move." —Language Arts, Book reMarks

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Fiction

84 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Betsy Hearne is the author of numerous articles and books, including Choosing Books for Children: A Commonsense Guide, the folktale anthology Beauties and Beasts, fiction for both children and young adults, and picture books—one of which, Seven Brave Women, won the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. The former children's book editor of Booklist and of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, she has reviewed books for almost forty years and contributes regularly to The Horn Book Magazine.

Hearne was the former Director of The Center for Children's Books and a professor emerita in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she taught children's literature and storytelling for many years.

Reviews

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is... um... interesting. It's a slight little scrap of a tale that feels like it's part of something bigger, in a way that is faintly nagging. A giant's young daughter flees from a vengeful enemy, encounters a young boy (not a giant) and they set off together in hopes of finding a new, safe destiny. There's a lyrical magic to the telling, fairy-tale-like, and the illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman enhance that. But unlike modern children's fantasy, which even when it doesn't "begin at the beginning and go on until it comes to the end, then stop," is very strongly organized, this story just sort of floats in and out again, like a half-remembered dream or a snatch of a foreign folktale.

[RdWd · Rating 4 out of 5]

South Star is a touching contemporary folktale about a giantess Megan and her human companion Randall. Both are fleeing from an unimaginable foe, the frost-sprite known as The Screamer, across the land in seek of a possible refuge further south. It's a short novella, but in so few words, Hearne achieves a gripping sense of childhood fantasy.

Alongside Hearne's descriptions are Trina Schart Hyman's illustrations, that somehow are drawn in a manner that seems to squeeze the young-gargantuan Megan into box-like panes throughout the adventure. Together both the words and illustrations create a sense of a primordial world that begs to be fleshed out just that little bit more.

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[H.L. Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books from my childhood, I recently acquired a signed copy for my library! It was every bit as good as I remembered including the gorgeous illustrations. I realized as I reread the story that it was heavily influential in my writing today. I love that the tale existed for the sake of itself, and while I had questions (the type that arise from reading how a book is supposed to be written these days), I was able to let the answers go and just enjoy the story. I wish writing would go back to being this simple, this pleasurable.

[Conan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my favorite books--along with the sequel, Home--when I was in elementary school. Most of that was due to the captivating art by Trina Schart Hyman, but the story was fascinating and brought up so many questions to think about.

As an adult, I've purchased both books, and find my self returning to read them again and again.