Caleb is sick and tired of the never ending farm work and day after day drudgery on their family farm. His younger twin brothers are supposed to help, but do anything to shirk their chores. His younger sister Rachel helps when she can but she already has so many jobs of her own to do – cooking and cleaning and looking after them all. She shouldn’t have to do all that at only 12 years old, but none of his brothers and sisters are brave enough to cross their father. Even the twins become serious when their father speaks.

They should all be in school, thinks Caleb, not hidden away on a farm far from any main road or other people. They are even ordered to hide when the milk tanker arrives. The eldest at 13, Caleb misses his mum the most. Looking up at the stars at night helps him remember her, as she taught him all about the night sky from very young. But she’s gone now, sent away by his father when she admitted to hearing voices. While away in a hospital somewhere, she passed away.

Now Caleb is hearing voices. At first he thinks his siblings are playing tricks on him, but when he proves to himself that’s not happening, he begins to worry that he is getting sick like his mum. His father raved about the devil’s power over his mother. Is the same thing happening to him? The voices are persistent though – soon being the only light in a life of constant work, no schooling and no parental love.

After a storm, an accident, and religious fanatics trying to take over the farm, the voices are the only thing he can rely on. The voices become real people who tell Caleb and Rachel that they are all so much more than they think they are.

The first in a series, Star Light captured me early as I empathised at Caleb’s life. Intrigued at his family dynamics, I wanted to know why his father was hiding them? Who were the voices he heard, and what happened to his mum? Caleb is a likeable character. He’s had to grow up fast with so much responsibility on his shoulders but with his father’s wrath a constant, he trudges through each day.

The sibling dynamics are funny and a sudden change in control on the farm is maddening but riveting at the same time. I flew through the 2nd half of the book and am keen to get my hands on the next in the series – Star Bright – told in Rachel’s point of view.

Great read and I love this cover! When placed in a sea of books on a bookshop shelf, this cover stands out.

Author – Maureen Crisp

Age – 10+

Read a review for the next book in this intriguing series (Click on the cover)

(2020, Marmac Media, NZ, New Zealand, Kiwi Author, Award winning author, Church, Farm, Voices, Religious zealots, Control, Animals, Special abilities, Family, Siblings, Drunk father, Alcoholic, Lies, Sanity, Astronomy, Stars, Sci Fi, Mystery, Secrets, Series)