The Girl Who Sailed the Stars

Description

Adventure, friendship, and magical realism come together in this heartwarming, whimsical story. Perfect for fans of A Snicker of Magic and The Penderwicks.

When Oona Britt was born in the magical town of Nordlor, where all of the homes are built from wrecked ships, her parents never expected her to be a girl. Having listened to a faulty prediction from a washed-up soothsayer, they were promised a “bold and brave son,” so as the youngest of seven sisters, Oona’s birth became a disappointment — especially to her sea captain father, who doesn’t believe there’s a place for girls aboard ships.

But Oona is different from the rest of her family. She longs for adventure and knowledge. So she steals aboard her father’s ship just as he’s about to set sail for his annual winter whale hunt, and suddenly finds herself in the midst of a grand adventure! The ship has its own sea cat, Barnacles, and a navigator named Haroyld, who show Oona how to follow the stars. But for all that, Oona’s father is furious. Can she prove to him that she’s worth his love and pride, even though she’s not the bold and brave son he was promised?

This follow-up to The Boy, the Bird & the Coffin Maker carries just as much heart and charm as Matilda Woods’s first novel. The characters, story, and illustrations will dazzle readers.

Praise for The Girl Who Sailed the Stars:

* “Woods’s intoxicating mix of whimsical details and taut adventure will keep [readers] enrapt.” —Booklist, starred review

“A richly imaginative fantasy that brings to mind Joan Aiken’s Wolves Chronicles with a dash of Roald Dahl . . . Strong world-building joins lyrical prose and a fine leavening of humor, adventure, and magic, to make a winning combination.” —SLJ

Praise for The Boy, the Bird & the Coffin Maker:

* “Woods has penned a gentle fable, one rich in hope that promotes the strength of kindness. Her magical realism nods to the like of Isabel Allende and Gabriel García Márquez, perfectly tailoring the genre for a middle-grade audience. Anuska Allepuz’s whimsical illustrations add to the magical feel. Sweet, earnest and not to be missed.” —Shelf Awareness, starred review

* “Elegantly told from start to finish and enhanced by Allepuz’s evocative images and decorations, debut author Woods has created a fairy tale that will linger with readers.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

* “This uplifting book will enthrall readers, enveloping them in its gentle charm.” —Booklist, starred reviewPraise for The Girl Who Sailed the Stars:

* “Woods’s intoxicating mix of whimsical details and taut adventure will keep [readers] enrapt.” —Booklist, starred review

“A richly imaginative fantasy that brings to mind Joan Aiken’s Wolves Chronicles with a dash of Roald Dahl . . . Strong world-building joins lyrical prose and a fine leavening of humor, adventure, and magic, to make a winning combination.” —SLJMatilda Woods (www.matildawoods.com) grew up in the small town of Southern Tablelands, Australia. She graduated from Monash University with a Masters of Social Work. Matilda splits her time between writing middle grade fiction and working as a youth social worker. She is the author of The Boy, the Bird & the Coffin Maker, and she currently lives in the same small town where she grew up, with her four chickens, three dogs, two cats, and one bird. Follow her on Twitter @MatildaWrites.THE VILLAGE OF ONE THOUSAND SHIPS

In the wild and white north, there is a village that has two names. The first name is Nordlor and comes from the man who discovered it: Fredrick Nordlor, the great explorer who sailed farther into the Northern Sea than any man before. And the second name—the name that has made it famous worldwide—is the Village of One Thousand Ships.

Nordlor sits beside a long fjord that stretches all the way to the Great Northern Sea. When it was first settled, no trees grew nearby, so when Fredrick Nordlor wanted to build the village’s first house he did not have many options. He built one with snow, but it melted when the spring thaw came. He wove a house from grass, but it turned brittle and crumbled in the summer. He even built a home from seashells dredged out of the fjord, but when winter came there were so many gaps in the walls that it felt colder inside than out.

In desperation, Fredrick Nordlor pulled apart his own ship and used the wood to build a house. It worked a lot better than the snow and the grass and the shells he had used before. But there was one peculiarity. Even in summer the house was cold and wet, and every night it rocked back and forth as though the ship still sailed upon the sea instead of standing broken on land.

Fredrick Nordlor thought this peculiarity was limited to the wood pulled from his own ship, but when another boat washed aground and was used to build the village hall, the same thing happened. It was as though the wood from northern ships possessed a special power that made it hold on to the memories it made while still at sea.

Fredrick Nordlor liked this trait in the wood—“It gives it a sense of northern character,” he would say—and so, even when saplings were planted and grew into tall, thick trees in the mountains around the village, it became tradition for all the buildings in Nordlor to be made from sunken ships.

Over the years, whenever a whaler sank, or even just a small fishing boat, it was dredged into Nordlor Harbor, pulled apart, and built back up into something new. And that is how the village of Nordlor grew. Houses went up, a dock was built, and taverns lined the shore.

As Nordlor itself grew, so too did its reputation. Soon, people all over the North and South spoke about the village built from sunken ships.

“Fredrick Nordlor had the idea himself,” a man from Islo said. “He always was a smart one.”

“I heard he got the idea from his wife,” whispered a woman in Iceblown Harbor. “Behind every great man is an even greater woman telling him what to do.”

“Apparently,” swore a boy in Whitlock, “the village is made from exactly one thousand sunken ships and not a single one more.”

Nordlor became so famous that a prince in the South spent two thousand golden crowns to have a replica built within the walls of his castle. Little Nordlor, it was called, and he loved it more than anything else, even his only son.

But for a village where everyone wanted to go, hardly anyone ever went there. The snow was too deep, the air was too cold, and the days were too short and dark.

It was so rare for people to come to Nordlor that when a new person arrived it always caused a stir. Like the time Lady Summer left the South and took up residence in Whalebone Lane. Or the time Mister Bjorkman fled Mournful Harbor and built a tower out of ship masts in the main square. But the one visitor who caused the greatest stir of all was the fortune teller, Freydis Spits.US