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AT THE SIGN OF THE STAR
by Katherine
Sturtevant
Farrar Straus & Giroux (Juv)
ISBN: 0374304491
Age Level: Ages 9-12
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an Excerpt
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Meg Moore
is only eight years old when her mother dies in childbirth. Her bookseller
tells Meg that she is now heir to all his books, copyrights, and other
interests. With such a dowry, she knows that someday she will have
her pick of suitors and that with the right husband she can continue
in the book trade. She dreams of being friends with witty people and
authors, as her father is. She obstinately refuses to attend school,
preferring to learn the booksellers' trade in her father's shop. She
does not care to learn women's ways. Strong-minded, with a lively
wit and caustic tongue, Meg brings London in the 1600s alive for us,
through her eyes.
When her father remarries a woman named Susannah, it looks like Meg
will lose her birthright and inheritance to Susannah and any child
she might have. However, Meg does not want to live life as only a
wife or servant, either. It seems though, that these might be the
only options open to her unless she learns a trade. Meg consults Anthony
Barker, an astrologer. Mr. Barker tells her that a great change is
coming to her life.
Thirteen-year-old Meg must learn to take charge of her own life in
an era when woman do not have much control over their lives. Meg is
determined that she will become a bookseller or at least have some
other trade. She refuses to be at the mercy of a husband or be forced
to live as a servant.
Will an unsuspected talent be Meg's salvation, and will she find the
maturity to face her unknown future? In AT THE SIGN OF THE STAR, Katherine
Sturtevant has recreated the world of 17th Century Restoration London
at a time when women were finally coming into their own on London's
literary scene.
--- Reviewed by Audrey Marie Danielson |
