"A sparkling sci-fi adventure with a unique central character."
Eleven-year-old Astrifer stands out in a (future) world where that is very bad indeed. She’s marked by a scattering of freckles across her face that not even the highest tech in an ultra-high-tech society can erase. She’s also neurodivergent, even more difficult when conformity has been made a badge of honour.
When her best friend Rainbow, the president’s daughter, becomes one of the famous Highlighter Kids she feels even more isolated, only the Tree Museum, pretty well abandoned by everyone else, offering refuge. A final humiliation comes at the Work Path Allocation Ceremony, when she is sent to work in a sock factory, even as her high-achieving twin brother is picked out as an athlete.
It takes the arrival of an extra-terrestrial convinced that Astrifer is a hero to make her believe that what makes her different makes her special. Her new sock factory friends – the place is so not what she was expecting – are also there to help her avert the disaster threatening their world; their skills and abilities, scorned by others, proving to be just what’s needed.
This exciting sci-fi adventure is as unique as its central character and sparkles with ideas of justice, the power of the natural world and of creativity. It also makes a wonderfully positive argument for respecting and valuing everyone equally.
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With its ambitious sci-fi concept, this fast-paced adventure is perfect for distractable (or "reluctant") young readers. It has the nonstop, sci-fi action found in Christopher Edge's books as well as the heart and bigger lessons that readers love in Ross Welford's novels.
In the future, the most underestimated person on the planet may be the only one who can save it.
The year is 3897, and life on Earth is a neon dream, all flashing lights and buzzy noise - and no one remembers that behind the illuminated shell above them there's a night sky filled with stars.
As she turns 11, neurodivergent, freckled Astrifer Nova is nothing like her sporty, high-achieving twin brother, Blaze. And on the day of her Work Path Allocation ceremony which determines the course of her life, she is crushed when she gets assigned to the something as boring as the sock factory.
But all is not as it seems, and as she uncovers layers of hidden truths all around her, Astrifer discovers that the world is bigger than she ever imagined - and that it's up to her and a motley crew of new friends (including one from very far away) to challenge the status quo. Turns out, their differences may be exactly what the planet needs…
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed The Starlight Rebel and determined it is suitable for children aged 9-12 years old
The Starlight Rebel features in the following genres: Featured Books for 9+ readers, Featured Books for 11+ readers, Recommendations, Science Fiction, PSHE: Multiculturalism, Diversity and Inclusion, Personal Social Health Economic (PSHE), Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational
The Starlight Rebel is available in Paperback
The Starlight Rebel was written by Lisette Auton and published by Puffin an imprint of Penguin Random House Children's UK
The Starlight Rebel has 323 pages
£8.09
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