Awards

• Short-listed for NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2002 (Australia)
• Shortlisted for NSW Premier's Literary Award Patricia Wrightson Prize 2002.

Overview

Jess was happy when they lived by the bay, but something is wrong with their new house. Since they moved, Vida is wild and furious and believes in all kinds of strange magic. Clem hasn't even unpacked, and their mum is lying sick and silent in the room upstairs. And Jess can feel someone following her, invisible legs quietly keeping step. Starry Nights is a haunting mystery of a family caught in a twilight zone.

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9781865086040

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Reviews

'this moving novel about loss and grief is perfectly executed ... a haunting but surprisingly uplifting story that adults old and young will struggle to put down'North & South, April 2002'More wonderful writing from one of our most accomplished and sophisticated storytellers.'reading for lifeAustralian Centre for Youth Literature'a beautiful and poignant story'John Morrow, Armidale ExpressFeb 2002'a tantalising story...all together a really good yarn'Reading TimeVol 46 No 2a spine-tingler with staying power'Publishers Weekly US, May 2003

Australian author Clarke deliberately makes it hard to tell who's alive and who isn't in this artful tale of a haunted, grief-wracked family. As her mother lies nearly comatose in the wake of a breakdown, ten-year-old Jess not only struggles to cope with her teenaged sister Viva's violent mood swings and obsession with the occult, but is frightened by repeated ghostly sightings. Meanwhile, big brother Clem, wandering about the house with an oddly fragmented memory, keeps meeting Amy, an inarticulate stranger in antique school dress. Using a paradoxical combination of misdirection and broad hints to keep readers off-balance, the author conceals motives and springs surprises, but brings all 'round right in the end for both survivors and spectral characters. A touching tale for readers who prefer character-driven ghost stories with the merest dashes of eeriness. (Fiction. 10-12) (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

Judith Clarke was born in Sydney and educated at the University of New South Wales and the Australian National University in Canberra. She has worked as a teacher and librarian, and in Adult Education in Victoria and New South Wales. She now lives in Melbourne with her husband, and has one grown-up son. A major force in YA fiction both in Australia and internationally, Judith Clarke's novels include the multi-award-winning Night Train, Friend of my Heart and the very popular and funny Al Capsella series. She is unsurpassed in her ability to convey complex emotional states with acute understanding and compassion.

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