Secret Star

by Nancy Springer

Fourteen years old, dirt-poor, and unable to remember anything that happened to her before she was ten, Tess is happy living with her wheelchair-bound stepfather, until a scarred young man finds her and starts asking questions about her real father.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399230289
• ISBN13: 9780399230288
• Release Date: April 1997
• Publisher: Philomel Books
• Length: 138 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Nancy Springer Does it again

Tess Mathis lives with her her disabled stepfather. She is so poor they have no electricity and very little food. When a young man named Kamo comes to town asking her questions it stirs up memories of a past Tess would rather forget. Is Kamo a bad guy like his facial scars and attitude would have you believe? Or is he really a friend in disguise? I loved Nancy Springer books for adults, and decided to read some of her childrens' books on a whim and I found this book enjoyable. While I found it somewhat implausible that a child like Tess would live in such abject poverty without social services becoming involved, I like the characters of Kamo and Tess and her stepfather. Well worth the read for the for adults and teens alike.