What do you think?
Rate this book
Gus and the Starlight
A spine-tingling and heart-warming story about friendship and finding your special place in the world.
Gus doesn't want to make friends.
She also doesn't want to be intrigued by the cat-lady teacher at her new school, or the Riley's Comet project that she and her seaweed-eating science partner are working on together.
And she definitely doesn't want to fall in love with her job as the projectionist at the Starlight, a drive-in movie theatre that her family is reviving.
Because, knowing Gus's luck, she and her family could be moving on in a day, or a week, or a month. When the ghosts that haunt Mum catch up with them. Or if the Starlight doesn't succeed.
Then she'll have to say goodbye. Again.
And saying goodbye is too hard.
PRAISE
'This has the perfect mix of feels, humour and pathos, and sprinkle of supernatural!'
- Karen Foxlee, author of the award-winning Lenny's Book of Everything and Dragon Skin
'A magical-realist middle-grade book with a feather-light fantastical touch, that wonderfully helps the young protagonist figure out their complex and confusing family; the hope they have in their heart for a fresh start, and the ways that the past can haunt and help us. Just - stunning!'
- Danielle Binks, author of The Year the Maps Changed and The Monster of Her Age
Gus doesn't want to make friends.
She also doesn't want to be intrigued by the cat-lady teacher at her new school, or the Riley's Comet project that she and her seaweed-eating science partner are working on together.
And she definitely doesn't want to fall in love with her job as the projectionist at the Starlight, a drive-in movie theatre that her family is reviving.
Because, knowing Gus's luck, she and her family could be moving on in a day, or a week, or a month. When the ghosts that haunt Mum catch up with them. Or if the Starlight doesn't succeed.
Then she'll have to say goodbye. Again.
And saying goodbye is too hard.
PRAISE
'This has the perfect mix of feels, humour and pathos, and sprinkle of supernatural!'
- Karen Foxlee, author of the award-winning Lenny's Book of Everything and Dragon Skin
'A magical-realist middle-grade book with a feather-light fantastical touch, that wonderfully helps the young protagonist figure out their complex and confusing family; the hope they have in their heart for a fresh start, and the ways that the past can haunt and help us. Just - stunning!'
- Danielle Binks, author of The Year the Maps Changed and The Monster of Her Age
320 pages, Paperback
First published May 4, 2022
8 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
Victoria Carless
5 books12 followersVictoria grew up in a small town on the North Queensland coast, and spent weekends on the water in a tinnie with her family. She is a published playwright, having written and produced seven plays since 2006. Her Queensland Theatre Company award-winning script, 'The Rainbow Dark,' was published in the Staging Asylum collection by Currency Press in 2013. She holds a PhD in creative writing and regularly contributes contemporary performance reviews to Real Time magazine. She is a graduate of the 2015 QWC/Hachette Manuscript Development Program.
'The Dream Walker' is her first novel.
'The Dream Walker' is her first novel.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
June 11, 2022
What an unexpected gem for late primary and early secondary school readers.
Centering around Gus (Augustas), an 11 year old, turning 12, we learn of her family, their need to head north and find a new place to live. Stopping in a small town her mother reads a job advert in the fish and chip shop and takes on the caretaker role of Starlight, a once thriving but now neglected drive in. It is rumoured to be haunted. Riley's Comet is also about to be seen in the sky, will it bring chaos or calm for the town and Gus's family?
This would make a delightful read aloud for a classroom teacher.
Centering around Gus (Augustas), an 11 year old, turning 12, we learn of her family, their need to head north and find a new place to live. Stopping in a small town her mother reads a job advert in the fish and chip shop and takes on the caretaker role of Starlight, a once thriving but now neglected drive in. It is rumoured to be haunted. Riley's Comet is also about to be seen in the sky, will it bring chaos or calm for the town and Gus's family?
This would make a delightful read aloud for a classroom teacher.
September 9, 2023
Gus and the Starlight was a sweet read and I loved the setting; a rundown drive-in-theatre. I totally understood the Able family's love of the old complex and shared Gus' wonder and love for the Starlight Drive-in Movie Theatre.
This novel took me back to my childhood when my parents would bundle my sisters and me into the car and take us to the movies. There was always something magical about buying the tickets, choosing the perfect viewing spot, hanging the speakers on the car window, clambering into the back to get comfortable and then waiting in anticipation for the sun to set so the movie could begin.
While most young people won't have first-hand knowledge of drive-in theatres, I think Gus and the Starlight will still appeal to young people as it is a wonderful coming-of-age story with likeable characters, a touch of the supernatural, classic movie references and a great family dynamics. A very enjoyable novel for middle school readers.
This novel took me back to my childhood when my parents would bundle my sisters and me into the car and take us to the movies. There was always something magical about buying the tickets, choosing the perfect viewing spot, hanging the speakers on the car window, clambering into the back to get comfortable and then waiting in anticipation for the sun to set so the movie could begin.
While most young people won't have first-hand knowledge of drive-in theatres, I think Gus and the Starlight will still appeal to young people as it is a wonderful coming-of-age story with likeable characters, a touch of the supernatural, classic movie references and a great family dynamics. A very enjoyable novel for middle school readers.
May 15, 2023
There is so much to love about this book. An absolute delight. Five stars and a comet. ☄️
April 30, 2022
Gus (Augusta) fell in love the moment she saw it.
The thing was around a metre and a half high and made of metal and glass. It had discs and cylinders, boxes and orbs as well as cogs and wheels, and was like something out of science fiction…
The 35mm projector, surrounded by circular tins of movie film is the heart of the Calgary Starlight Drive-In Movie Theatre that Gus’s mother has just been employed to run. Gus has no idea how to use the old projector, but somehow it made her feel spangle-y inside.
It’s a nice feeling, so different from normal. Days before, her mum had piled Gus, her older sister Alice and younger brother Artie inside a stolen car with all their belongings and fled their home – again.
Gus didn’t blame her mum for running away. Not really. Moving from town to town every few months is stressful though, even if Gus has perfected the art of NOT making friends at each school she’s enrolled in. Mum’s special abilities may provide the money for them to live on, but too many times, her partners over the years have exploited them for their own benefits. Speaking to the dead for grieving relatives might be lucrative, but increasingly left Mum wrung out and exhausted.
Maybe the small town Drive-In will change things for them? Sure it needed cleaning up. Sure the on-site caravan which is to be their new home, spells like possum wee. Whispers of it being haunted probably don’t help much either. But Gus and her family don’t have any other options, and they get to work.
Gus’s first ghostly experience arrives soon after. The whispers are true. Henry, the old owner of the Drive-In appears in the projection room. Gus is frightened at first, but when he shows her how to use the projector, she listens carefully. Help also comes from a friendly local boy, and Gus begins to feel like this place could actually be a home.
As always though, their past isn’t far behind them, and it’s ready to snatch everything away – again, this time with the help of an angry local.
Gus and the Starlight is engaging from the very first page. An 11 yr old girl, her mum and sibling are running away, drawing instant empathy from the reader. The reason for their flight is unusual too, adding an intriguing string to the story. However their new home at a run-down Drive-In Movie Theatre is the setting and the base of this well-written, compelling, and many layered novel for middle-grade / tween readers.
With the constant threat of their past catching up with them, haunting rumours and skeptical locals, pressure is on this young family to bring the Drive-In back to life and maybe, find a real home.
Loved it!
The thing was around a metre and a half high and made of metal and glass. It had discs and cylinders, boxes and orbs as well as cogs and wheels, and was like something out of science fiction…
The 35mm projector, surrounded by circular tins of movie film is the heart of the Calgary Starlight Drive-In Movie Theatre that Gus’s mother has just been employed to run. Gus has no idea how to use the old projector, but somehow it made her feel spangle-y inside.
It’s a nice feeling, so different from normal. Days before, her mum had piled Gus, her older sister Alice and younger brother Artie inside a stolen car with all their belongings and fled their home – again.
Gus didn’t blame her mum for running away. Not really. Moving from town to town every few months is stressful though, even if Gus has perfected the art of NOT making friends at each school she’s enrolled in. Mum’s special abilities may provide the money for them to live on, but too many times, her partners over the years have exploited them for their own benefits. Speaking to the dead for grieving relatives might be lucrative, but increasingly left Mum wrung out and exhausted.
Maybe the small town Drive-In will change things for them? Sure it needed cleaning up. Sure the on-site caravan which is to be their new home, spells like possum wee. Whispers of it being haunted probably don’t help much either. But Gus and her family don’t have any other options, and they get to work.
Gus’s first ghostly experience arrives soon after. The whispers are true. Henry, the old owner of the Drive-In appears in the projection room. Gus is frightened at first, but when he shows her how to use the projector, she listens carefully. Help also comes from a friendly local boy, and Gus begins to feel like this place could actually be a home.
As always though, their past isn’t far behind them, and it’s ready to snatch everything away – again, this time with the help of an angry local.
Gus and the Starlight is engaging from the very first page. An 11 yr old girl, her mum and sibling are running away, drawing instant empathy from the reader. The reason for their flight is unusual too, adding an intriguing string to the story. However their new home at a run-down Drive-In Movie Theatre is the setting and the base of this well-written, compelling, and many layered novel for middle-grade / tween readers.
With the constant threat of their past catching up with them, haunting rumours and skeptical locals, pressure is on this young family to bring the Drive-In back to life and maybe, find a real home.
Loved it!
July 5, 2022
This is a perfect book! The lead character, Gus (short for Augusta) is lonely, brave, intelligent, responsible, and thoroughly likeable. We follow her family’s journey (single mum, Delphine, older sister, Alice and younger brother, Artie) to Far North Queensland from somewhere ‘down south’, as they escape yet again from an uncomfortable past, and the dubious boyfriend to Delphine, Troy, whose car they have taken. They sleep rough in the car as Mum drives over several days, subsisting on junk food bought at service stations.
At last they arrive in the one-horse town of Calvary, where, as chance would have it, Delphine secures a position as the manager of the local drive-in, which had certainly seen better days. The kids pitch in, taking on responsible roles, helping Delphine to reestablish the Starlight, as the business is called. They have a roof over their heads once more, even though it is a compact caravan in which the kids all share the same bed. Life is going well. But will this serendipity last? Of course not! We’re only one third of the way through the book at this stage …
Ghosts (but are they all ghosts?) come calling, along with the simply awful daughter of Henry, the Starlight’s vanished owner. This woman, Deirdre, is despicably rude to the family, even though she is their employer. Delphine, Alice and Gus are all psychic to various degrees and can see and communicate with the ghosts.
Plot twists abound, including where Henry might have disappeared, and is he even alive(?), a mystery boy called Stevie, as well as a comet that is to cross the town a few weeks hence. While the circumstances unravel at a brisk pace to a satisfactory denouement, Gus, for once, makes a friend at school and feels that she at last belongs somewhere.
There is enough material for a sequel and I hope author, Victoria Carless has the opportunity to take us along the ride to the next chapter of Gus’s life in Calvary. I would love to read more of this brave girl’s story.
At last they arrive in the one-horse town of Calvary, where, as chance would have it, Delphine secures a position as the manager of the local drive-in, which had certainly seen better days. The kids pitch in, taking on responsible roles, helping Delphine to reestablish the Starlight, as the business is called. They have a roof over their heads once more, even though it is a compact caravan in which the kids all share the same bed. Life is going well. But will this serendipity last? Of course not! We’re only one third of the way through the book at this stage …
Ghosts (but are they all ghosts?) come calling, along with the simply awful daughter of Henry, the Starlight’s vanished owner. This woman, Deirdre, is despicably rude to the family, even though she is their employer. Delphine, Alice and Gus are all psychic to various degrees and can see and communicate with the ghosts.
Plot twists abound, including where Henry might have disappeared, and is he even alive(?), a mystery boy called Stevie, as well as a comet that is to cross the town a few weeks hence. While the circumstances unravel at a brisk pace to a satisfactory denouement, Gus, for once, makes a friend at school and feels that she at last belongs somewhere.
There is enough material for a sequel and I hope author, Victoria Carless has the opportunity to take us along the ride to the next chapter of Gus’s life in Calvary. I would love to read more of this brave girl’s story.
March 21, 2024
I fell a little bit in love with Gus while I was reading this book. She has qualities that I just adore in a main character. She's gutsy, quirky and not afraid of making a decision. Sometimes the decisions she makes are a bit questionable, but that is ok, she's also not afraid of taking responsibility when things go badly.
Gus and her family are on the run from an abusive man, he is one of a series of blokes that her mother has chosen to get involved with and they all have the same quality, and it isn't a good quality. At all. So in the middle of the night, they are on the run, washing up at an abandoned Drive-In theatre in the middle of nowhere. They make a deal with the utterly awful manager and try to turn it into a going concern in exchange for a place to live. Conditions are awful, but Gus decides they can make money if the family all pull together to make it work. Each member of Gus's family has stuff to deal with, particularly her sister who has gone from being a sparkly ray of sunshine to being quiet and introverted almost overnight. This will need investigating, but in the meantime Gus has a business to get up and running. Oh, and there is school. And a teacher unlike any she's met before. And a ghost.
I loved Gus, I loved her story, and the way she won people over. This is a story full of heart and energy and with a bunch of characters who are unforgettable.
Gus and her family are on the run from an abusive man, he is one of a series of blokes that her mother has chosen to get involved with and they all have the same quality, and it isn't a good quality. At all. So in the middle of the night, they are on the run, washing up at an abandoned Drive-In theatre in the middle of nowhere. They make a deal with the utterly awful manager and try to turn it into a going concern in exchange for a place to live. Conditions are awful, but Gus decides they can make money if the family all pull together to make it work. Each member of Gus's family has stuff to deal with, particularly her sister who has gone from being a sparkly ray of sunshine to being quiet and introverted almost overnight. This will need investigating, but in the meantime Gus has a business to get up and running. Oh, and there is school. And a teacher unlike any she's met before. And a ghost.
I loved Gus, I loved her story, and the way she won people over. This is a story full of heart and energy and with a bunch of characters who are unforgettable.
December 26, 2023
11-year-old Augusta (‘Gus’) Able is bundled into a car and driven through the night with her siblings, Alice and Artie. Gus’ mother makes a living by contacting the dead for paying customers. Her last session has gone badly wrong. She knows the rent money is due and her boyfriend will be furious that the customers left without leaving a cent.
They drive north for several days, stopping only for fuel and food. On reaching the town of Calvary, Gus’ mother pops into a takeaway and notices an ad for a job with accommodation attached. She phones immediately and soon they have a job as caretakers for the rundown STARLIGHT DRIVE-IN MOVIE THEATRE (and dry-cleaners).
It’s agreed to reopen the following week and that the family will get a percentage of the proceeds. Deirdre, the landlord, is keen to keep the theatre going in memory of her father, recently vanished and presumed deceased.
Gus finds herself breaking her own rules and making friends. She is helped to choose movies by a mysterious local boy Stevie and by Deirdre’s father Henry—whom Gus takes to be a ghost. Slowly Gus learns how to attract a movie audience, only to discover that Deirdre is furious that she’s been too successful.
They drive north for several days, stopping only for fuel and food. On reaching the town of Calvary, Gus’ mother pops into a takeaway and notices an ad for a job with accommodation attached. She phones immediately and soon they have a job as caretakers for the rundown STARLIGHT DRIVE-IN MOVIE THEATRE (and dry-cleaners).
It’s agreed to reopen the following week and that the family will get a percentage of the proceeds. Deirdre, the landlord, is keen to keep the theatre going in memory of her father, recently vanished and presumed deceased.
Gus finds herself breaking her own rules and making friends. She is helped to choose movies by a mysterious local boy Stevie and by Deirdre’s father Henry—whom Gus takes to be a ghost. Slowly Gus learns how to attract a movie audience, only to discover that Deirdre is furious that she’s been too successful.
January 5, 2023
I was always told to not judge a book by its cover… but I definitely did! I picked this book up solely because I thought that the cover was the cutest thing ever, and the story did not disappoint! My heart hurt for Gus at the start of the book, with the descriptions of what she was going through so she appropriate and well described for a 12 year old. As the book went on, I learnt to not feel sorry for her, because she was one bad-ass, independent, smart, entrepreneurial 12 year old. I really enjoyed all of the emotions of everyone in the book (Stevie and Alice in particular) and I thought that the writing truly was so good! I felt so so bad for Stevie, as he was in the unknown for so long, but of course Gus helped him!). I would love for a second book or a novella about them building their next chapter!
I only rated it 3 stars, because for it to be a 4 star it would have to be memorable to me, and I just don’t think it will be in a couple of months.
I only rated it 3 stars, because for it to be a 4 star it would have to be memorable to me, and I just don’t think it will be in a couple of months.
May 8, 2022
Gus was back in the car with her mother, brother and sister. They’d had no time to gather their stuff as they made their getaway in the middle of the night. Only this time it was different Mum kept driving for days.
A random job vacancy finds the family living in a tiny caravan in a run-down drive-in movie theatre. Gus wonders how they’ll manage. Mum can’t cook, and the three siblings share a double bed. Much to her surprise, Gus loves the drive-in. She learns to be the projection operator from an unusual older man. Mum learns to cook, and life looks good.
Ghosts turn up, again and again. The owner of the drive-in causes trouble and Gus’s sister goes away. What is happening?
I enjoyed the family dynamics and the drive-in setting.
Recommended for middle grade and 10-12-year-old readers.
May 30, 2022
Yes, it's middle grade, and no, I don't have middle-grade aged kids anymore as an excuse to read this genre, but I loved it. Victoria writes place so evocatively and interweaves magic and the supernatural in a way that feels like pure realism to me, how I see the layers on layers in the world around me. Best of all, there is a haunted drive-in theatre, and Gus chooses films that filled me with magic and wonder when I saw them at her age. Watching "The Princess Bride" always makes life truly enchanting for 98 minutes. I also appreciated that the main character is not an orphan, that she doesn't have bad parents to escape, that her mother has agency and a lovely arc of her own, and that her mother is a single parent. I want more of these representations!
August 1, 2022
I received an ARC of this book a few months ago and never got around to it, and now I almost wish I'd waited longer because this would've been a perfect Halloween read. Honestly, the vibes of this book! An old drive-in movie theatre, classic movies, stargazing, ghosts, psychics and a warm light-heartedness. Such a sweet middle-grade novel that's just as enjoyable for adults. I might've liked the characters to have a little more personality - especially Gus - to really love them, but overall I found this book so charming it kept me engaged. Also love that this is an Australian book by a Qld author! An easy 4/5 stars :)
August 28, 2022
https://denisenewtonwrites.com/?p=3762
Gus and the Starlight is part coming-of-age story, part magical realism, and all heart.
Gus and the Starlight
Victoria Carless
Gus and the Starlight is part coming-of-age story, part magical realism, and all heart.
Gus and the Starlight
Victoria Carless
September 7, 2022
Gus is a 12 year old girl whose family has an unusual talent that appears once they turn 12. Gus and her family are trying to make their way in the world and they find themselves in charge of an old movie drive in. Their employer has high expectations for the drive in to be a success once again but there is a mystery as to why the drive in is failing.
A heart warming tale of growing up, finding yourself, and family relationships.
Great teacher read aloud.
A heart warming tale of growing up, finding yourself, and family relationships.
Great teacher read aloud.
July 2, 2022
What an absolutely gorgeous novel. Heartwarming, funny and clever, with a twist of the supernatural. A lovely read for young teens, and some great nostalgia in here for adults too. Highly recommend for any age.
September 17, 2024
Review by 12yr old:
Exciting book with fantastic storyline. The character development was amazing with twists at every turn. I loved this book and recommend to anyone who likes a little bit of supernatural.
Exciting book with fantastic storyline. The character development was amazing with twists at every turn. I loved this book and recommend to anyone who likes a little bit of supernatural.
June 30, 2022
School book
July 4, 2022
I loved this! This is a great story. Gus is a great character and I feel for her and I love that her dream is to get a permanent, rather than a temporary, library card. This review cannot fully explain how I felt about this book. Just wonderful.
July 24, 2022
I really wanted to love this because it’s such a great premise and such a fab cover. But the characterisation and writing style really didn’t work for me at all. Also, the use of italics was heinous.
September 5, 2022
An excellent book for middle/late primary that I know my 11 year old self would have adored.
October 10, 2022
I knew this would be good. Just had to find time to fit it in.
A genuinely great story of family and finding a place to belong.
A genuinely great story of family and finding a place to belong.
December 30, 2022
Very enjoyable, great story, well written, cute - read for PRC
August 24, 2023
Charming 🌟
January 31, 2025
In Gus and the Starlight, Gus (Augusta) has learned not to get too attached to people or places due to her family's constant moving, often due to the difficulties that arise from her mum's ability to see ghosts. But when they end up caretakers of the Starlight drive-in theatre, Gus discovers she enjoys being in charge of projection, and makes friends with Nicole, a girl from school, Stevie, who hangs around the drive-in and Henry, the ghost of the former projectionist. Gus womders if they might have found a place to stay, but her hopes are threatened by Deirdre, the woman who hired them, who seems intent on making sure the drive-in does not succeed.
This books is perfect for middle-grade readers who love heart-warming stories with characters you don't want to leave. It is a wonderful story which I'm sure will be reread many times at our house.
Highly recommend.
This books is perfect for middle-grade readers who love heart-warming stories with characters you don't want to leave. It is a wonderful story which I'm sure will be reread many times at our house.
Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews