Description
Book SynopsisShortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal 2017 and recommended by Amnesty as a top book for young adults.
“..a challenging yet life-affirming book that gives its young characters a powerful and original voice” – Amnesty
“Surprising, lyrical and beautiful, this book speaks of hope in the darkest of times, and of love in its many forms” - Liz Flanagan
Alice is fifteen, with hair as red as fire and skin as pale as bone, but something inside her is broken. She has a brain injury, the result of an assault. Manny was once a child soldier. He is sixteen and has lost all his family. When Manny first sees Alice, she is sitting on the rusty roof of her river house, looking like a carving on an old-fashioned ship, sailing through the stars. He has a poem in his pocket, and he knows the words by heart. And he is sure that girl has written them. When Manny and Alice meet, they find the beginnings of love and healing.
Trade ReviewAn absolute tour de force! So beautifully written and with an unforgettable narrative "voice", this is definitely one of the outstanding reads of the year so far.
-- Joy Court
Exploring themes of sexual assault, poverty and racism, The Stars at Oktober Bend is a challenging yet life-affirming book that gives its young characters a powerful and original voice.
* Best YA books (2020) *
The Stars at Oktober Bend is so beautifully and carefully written it seems each word is pure gold... Out of terrible crimes evolves a story of forgiveness and redemption, told with passion, heart and humour; it is unforgettable.
* Books for Keeps magazine *
It was absolutely luminous; I couldn't stop reading it, and when I finally forced myself to put it down I couldn't stop thinking about it. Alice and Manny are so beautifully drawn, and their stories are explored with such care: she may write, and he may run – but together they fly.
-- Maggie Harcourt
Heartrending and, ultimately, hopeful, this tells the extraordinarily powerful tale of unforgettable Alice.
* lovereading4kids.co.uk *
Magnificent – one of the most startling things for this age group I've read this year.
-- Clare Zinkin * Minerva Reads blog *
Iincredibly powerful, haunting, spirited, joyous. Like all of Millard's work, it is a story that makes you feel. Don't let it pass you by.
-- Melanie McGilloway * Library Mice blog *
Surprising, lyrical and beautiful, this book speaks of hope in the darkest of times, and of love in its many forms. The voices of Alice and Manny are distinctive and memorable, and their resilience will stay with me... -- Liz Flanagan
Beautifully told through the eyes and words of the two protagonists, damaged emotionally and physically, I was willing Alice and Manny to find a way to happiness through the small-town bigotry of Oktober Bend. The writing is quirky, poetic and haunting. Surrounded by rising floodwaters, the ending had me on the edge of my seat.
-- Sarah Stuffins
