At the Sign of the Star

Meg Moore #1

by Katherine Sturtevant

The tale of a bookseller's daughter

Meg Moore is the motherless and only child of a bookseller with a thriving business in Restoration London-and that makes her an heiress. She knows that someday she will have her pick of suitors, and that with the right husband she can continue in the book trade and be friends with wits and authors, as her father is. But Mr. Moore's unexpected marriage throws all Meg's dreams into confusion. Meg resists the overtures and edicts of her stepmother with a cleverness equaled only by her fierceness, but in spite of it all her rival's belly soon swells with what Meg fears will be her father's new heir. Meg seeks wisdom from almanacs and astrologers, plays and books of jests, guides for ladies and guides for midwives. Yet it is through her own experience that she finds a new matrimony with which to face her unknown future. This vibrant novel recreates a lively and fascinating historical period when women claimed a new and more active role in London's literary scene.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Middle Grade, Historical, 17th Century, Childrens

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

You had me at "only child of a bookseller with a thriving business in Restoration London." Points for an unusual time period in youth lit. I kept expecting it to turn into a Jane Eyre style epic, given Meg's preoccupation with her future, and heyyy look it has a sequel! Now I can get closure on her marriage prospects and literary career :) Unfortunately I found this book through weeding in my library... it had never been checked out. Oh well, I kept it and perhaps I will find the right bookish girl to recommend it to!

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a quick, charming read that captures the sense of a bygone era very well. I never felt the story was too modern, or that the heroine was anachronistic, and that seems to be one of the toughest challenges for a writer of historical fiction. Nicely done. Highly recommended for YA readers.

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about coming of age in the year 1677 London. Meg is a smart mouthed & very stubborn child. I felt a little sorry for her because she has dealt with a lot. She doesn’t want to fall into the “women stay in the kitchen “ kind of life. The story is about how women are equally as smart as men & deserve to have their own respected opinions. Her world starts to change & it ends with a positive outlook. (My library copy says fifth grade level & it seems too mature for that age to me) There is some heavy topics.

[Yara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meg Moore is an unconventional young woman of the 1600s. She helps her father in his bookstore and is planning on inheriting it from him, until he remarries and has a son. I enjoyed reading about Aphra Behn, a successful playwright of that time period who inspired other women to write, because I studied her plays in college.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked how realistic Meg was in character, what with her rudeness and her selfishness, and I liked how she didn't really know what she wanted, but that she tried to go after it anyway. I wished the book had been longer, so that the story could have been fleshed out more, but it was certainly an entire story, and I liked it for what it was. And I liked especially how the book ended.

[Carol Duncan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book in a pile of giveaways. I read on the back that it was about a young girl and her love of books. The first 20 pages were difficult to get through. At about page 60 I was ready to quit but I cared about Meg and wanted to see how her story ended. The book was slow and hard to stay with but since I did care about Meg and what happened to her, I give this book 2 out of 5 stars.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very accurate depiction of the time period with realistic characters and mostly enjoyable story line.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a mild story, didn't really grab me. I like the historical detail.

[Joey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this book because the The girl (named Meg) wants to become a book seller, but There are things in her life that blocks her way. She had lost her mother and her siblings and now is the only child in her family. She had a step mother who try to teach her how to do women work, but she didn't want too. Meg enjoys reading and wants to find a way to take control of her own life.

[Margaret Pebworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a quick and enjoyable read for me. I like how it described what ordinary people’s lives were like. I also appreciate the fact that Susannah wasn’t a full-on evil stepmother. She seemed like a perfectly nice person who genuinely wanted to make Meg like her. At the Sign of the Star contained many interesting details about the Medieval times, like what books people read back then. This was a really great book and I look forward to reading the sequel.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This YA novel is set in London about a decade or so after the Great Fire. The point of view character is a young girl (supposedly 12 years old) whose father is a bookseller and whose mother is no longer living. Because she is her father's only living child, she is indulged and encouraged to be involved with his business, and she expects to inherit it eventually. This changes when her father remarries and his new wife gives birth to a son.

The story is about how the girl deals with this disappointment, and about how she learns other ways that she can reach her goals of independence and education.

I had a hard time believing that she was actually only twelve because she seemed more mature than that intellectually. However, she seemed younger than twelve when she was acting spoiled.

As the story continued, she began learn to be more unselfish, though at first it was through trying to get her own way--she found that she was actually happier when she was being kind than she had been when she was being mean.

It's an interesting look at the time period, and I am willing to try reading the sequel (set about four years later), to see if she has grown up at least a little, emotionally.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the only child of a widowed bookseller in 17th century London, twelve-year-old Meg Moore stands to inheirit her father's entire estate. Because she is an heiress, Meg will be able to take part in the bookselling trade - her greatest wish - and will be able to chose her own husband. But Meg's entire future is changed when her father decides to remarry. Meg dislikes her new stepmother, Susannah, even though Susannah tries to be kind to her. She fears that Susannah will provide her father with a son that will take Meg's place as his heir, and that she will be reduced to marrying any man that will take her, or even worse, working as a maid. But over a year of change, Meg realizes that accepting Susannah can only bring good, and that there are ways that she can help influence her future, even if she is not an heiress. This was a fascinating glimpse into a time period that is not often written about in young adult fiction. Highly recommended.

[Christiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you can imagine Wives and Daughters written for a younger audience, with no plot except the main one about the daughter adjusting to the arrival of a stepmother, and transposed into the 17th century, you've have an approximation of At the Sign of the Star.

Not much really happens in this middle-grade novel, but the setting of a London bookseller's shop in the age of Dryden, Wycherley, and Behn is convincingly evoked and engaging, and the heroine has appeal--she's intelligent and independent, of course, but other attributes do make her seem a product of her time. I'm interested enough to seek out the sequel.

[Zoe Phan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: At the Sign of the Star
Author: Katherine Sturtevant
Lexile:Moderate to difficult
Star Rating: I would rate this book a three star rating

I didn't like this type of genre due to the following reasons:
1)It was hard to follow .
2) I don't understand the century it was taken place in the 1600's.

My favorite part is when Meg went to an event and danced freely without worrying what society would think of her. My least favorite part is when she trusted Anthony Barker rather than her father. Meg's original plan was to follow in her father's footsteps.

People who are interested to learn about females in the 1600's will like this book.
Also for those who like Historical fiction genre.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read A True and Faithful Narrative ages ago, not realizing at the time that it was a sequel. I loved it, even though it totally freaks me out not to read books in the right order. Anyway, years after the fact, I've finally gotten around to reading the first book--yay, me! I liked it, it's a good book. But not as good as A True and Faithful Narrative, and Meg kinda acts like a big jerk for a large part of this story. I'm glad I eventually got around to giving it a try, though!

[Yu Ting Zhu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a girl named Meg Moore who lived in 16th century London. As a motherless child, she helped in her father's bookstore and expected to inherit it from him. But this changes when her father remarries and his new wife Susannah gives birth to a son.
First Meg hated her stepmother and being mean to her, but later on she realized that accepting Susannah can only bring good. I feel Meg was turing mature after her father's marriage. Sometimes. a conflict can causes a person to be more stronger and independent. It's hard for me to imagine that Meg was only twelve but started to write and but knows that the chances of a woman being published is very small.

[Dotty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Motherlesss until father remarries
Susannah, her father’s new wfe, wants to prepare Meg to be wife & mother
Meg unhappy sees Susannah as threat her inheritance; and then Susannah becomes pregnant and now Meg knows that she will have no inheritance if the baby is a boy
Meg also begins to write but knows that the chances of a woman being published is very slim

In seventeenth-century London, Meg, who has little interest in cooking, needlework, or other homemaking skills, dreams of becoming a bookseller and someday inheriting her widowed father's book store.

[Ariana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book seemed quite unique to me. It was the story of a brat, and very gently she came to terms with her mildly unfair situation. I liked it because it didn't have hyperbole within the plot itself (not to say that the main character didn't use hyperbole in her speech). I found this story to be refreshingly believable in the falling action, moreso because I didn't love it during the rising action.

[Wonda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thoughtfully written story about the coming of age of a young girl who really desired more out of life than social edicts would likely permit. The protagonist was intelligen and witty, but on the spoiled side which ruined her likeability. I really wanted to like her more, but the selfishness, which is age appropriate, kind of spoiled her better characteristics.

[Bethany Huang · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the sign of the star is a wonderful story placed in the turn of the century about a girl who's father is about to remarry and take away her inheritance, her Father's bookstore. It's a good novel about family, love, and trust. If you enjoy compassionate and Historical fiction stories, I would reccomend this to you.

[Lisa (Bookworm Lisa) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well written book about a young girl growing up in 16th century England. Her dream is to be a writer and own her father's publishing business. Her dreams are shattered when her father decides to re-marry. She has to learn to come to terms with chang in her situation.

[Maureen E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story of a girl in Restoration England whose widowed father is re-marrying. Again, I liked that while Meg is a spunky character, she and her family and the whole situation did feel very much of the time. (March 2008)

[Tracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young girl is being raised in London by her father who is a bookseller. Somewhat unconventionally he allows her to speak her mind and to work in the shop. When her father remarries, she must find a way to reconcile her expectations from her old life with those of the new.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not what the front flap and the front cover seemingly depicts, because it is much more than that, it tells of growing more mature, and at the right age for it. This book will make you cry and smile as Meg Moore grows up.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A girl in 17th-century London wants to be a bookseller like her father. Combine with the picture book Anna the Bookbinder by Andrea Cheng and A True and Faithful Narrative by Sturtevant.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good read for girls in a blended family....especially with a new step-mother. Interesting to glimpse the way of life in 1677...

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give this a 3.5 - a fun, quick read. I do like the second book better.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I abandoned this book after reading maybe 15-20 pages. Just couldn't get into it.

[Miss · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aspiring female writer in London. OK. Not entertainment, more culture study. Probably won't re-read. (B)

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The characterizations and plot were good, and the sense of place and time (London, 1600s) was presented well.