Miranda and Starlight

Janet Muirhead Hill
Raven Publishing (2003)
ISBN 0971416141
Reviewed by Natalie Novakowski (age 9) for Reader Views (4/07)

This is the first book of the Starlight Series. It’s about a 10-year-old girl named Miranda Stevens.  She lives with her grandparents in Montana because her mom is in Los Angeles working as an actress.  Miranda has a hard time finding a friend.  Nobody in school likes her. A boy named Chris Bergman bullies her.

Miranda wants to make friends, have a real family like everyone else instead of living with her grandmother, and she wants to have a horse. On the first day of fifth grade Miranda meets another new girl in school.  Her name is Laurie Langley.  Her wish came true.

Then one day Chris dares her to ride a horse in the pasture. She falls in love with the horse and names it Starlight.  The horse is black. 

Chris stops bullying Miranda because she helps him with riding lessons.

Miranda learns lots of lessons.  She learns she can’t lie to her grandparents. 

I really, really like “Miranda and Starlight.”  I think that kids reading this book can learn from the things Miranda experiences. Also, I think that if someone wishes hard enough the wishes can come true.

Reviewed by April Sullivan for Reader Views (5/06)

“Miranda and Starlight” is the first book in a series of six called the Starlight Series that features a 10 year old girl and her horse. Miranda Stevens is a sweet, but feisty young girl who is living with her grandparents in Montana while her single mother in Los Angeles is trying to make it as an actress. Embarrassed by her untraditional upbringing, Miranda finds it hard to make friends. She is shunned by the "Magnificent Four" as she calls the close-knit pack of girls in her class. And she is constantly tormented by bully Chris Bergman. If Miranda could have three wishes, they would be for a friend, a real family, and a horse of her very own. On the first day of fifth grade, at least one of those wishes comes true when she meets the new girl, Laurie Langley. She also meets the horse of her dreams that day when bully Chris dares her to ride a horse they see in the pasture next to the school. Miranda, gets in trouble, but falls in love with the black horse she names Starlight for the white star on his forelock.

This fast-paced adventure is great for young readers being introduced to chapter books. A few interspersed illustrations help young minds form an impression of the events being described. And the fact that this is a series leaves the reader wanting to know more and encourages them to pick up the next book.

This story brought back memories of myself as a young girl with a horse. The author accurately describes the responsibility and love needed to care for a horse. She not only portrays the fun of riding, but the hard work of cleaning stalls and grooming the horses.

I look forward to the rest of the series to find out how Miranda’s relationship evolves not only with the horse, but all of the other people in her life. Since she has started to help Chris with riding lessons, they seem to be becoming friends. She learns the price she pays when lying to adults, especially her grandparents. And the most difficult relationship of all is with her mother, who wants her to come live with her in California, at the same time that Miranda is finally getting some of her wishes to come true in Montana.

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