Starlight’s Courage

Janet Muirhead Hill
Raven Publishing (2002)
ISBN 0971416117
Reviewed by April Sullivan for Reader Views (5/06)

“Starlight’s Courage” is number two in the Starlight Series and is more action-packed than the first. Although Miranda has been going with Chris and Laurie to the stables almost every day after school, she is still not confident in her friendship with Chris. When the popular girls tease her, she denies she is friends with Chris and says hurtful things about him. When Chris starts to ignore her, she realizes what a friend he really is, and she announces this to the entire class. Later, she upholds her loyalty to Chris and Laurie when the same girls make fun of them all with a rude drawing. Miranda’s temper flares and she fights the girls and ends up suspended for a week.

Miranda’s quick temper and tendency to act before she thinks causes her much trouble. Especially when she is trying to protect the horse she loves so much. Miranda’s grandparents are baffled by her violent behavior toward events. As the reader, we learn about Miranda’s personal feelings as she talks to herself in the mirror. Having her mother in California, and not knowing her father at all, upsets her and causes her to act out when other kids call her an orphan. Later in the book, an exciting turn of events brings Miranda more information about her long lost father and explains some of her personality traits.

The fast-paced action in this book keeps any young boy or girl reading along and looking for the next book in the series to come out. However, each book could also be read individually or at well-spaced intervals. The first chapter quickly catches the reader up on what happened in the previous book.

Beyond the adventures, there is also the long-term themes of friendship and loyalty that pull the reader from book to book in this series. Starlight has healed from his wounds. Chris has learned to ride his horse and has won ribbons at the Winter Fair riding competition. The "Magnificent Four" have decided they want to be friends with Miranda, Chris, and Laurie, if the three can forgive them for their behavior. Mr. Taylor, the owner of Starlight, has made contact with his daughter in England, and ends up caring for his young grandson Elliot upon her death.

The development of the steady characters, plus new ones we meet along the way, keep the reader invested in the series. A good horse story will pull any horse-lover in. But this book goes beyond the expected. It includes important topics to be explored by young readers such as racism, honesty, and family dynamics. I can’t wait to pick up the next installment of this series!

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