Twelve-year-old Clancy and her fourteen-year-old sister have been sent to stay with their Aunt Polly while parents Tim and Harriet deal with a family crisis. They haven’t seen Polly for years and they’ve never been to her house before.
Polly hasn’t had much experience with kids so when she mentions that she might go away for a couple of nights, Tash jumps at the chance to be left in charge. Clancy isn’t so sure it’s a good idea…
Armed with $50 emergency money, the first outing the girls go on is to see their grandpa, Goffrey, who has been living in a nursing home since he suffered a stroke. He’s also desperately missing his wife who died four years earlier. Polly visits grandpa when she can but there are many times when he’s lonely.
Despite their best intentions, the girls manage to get themselves into trouble right from the beginning. When Clancy leaves the door of the nursing home open and the other residents start escaping, they are unceremoniously thrown out and Tash decides to take grandpa with them for the night. What the staff don’t know is that the girls will be caring for him on their own.
And so, begins a quest to find a ‘real’ home for grandpa and unite a family that has broken apart since the death of Nan. From an inner-city apartment, to an ashram in the bush and a shack by the sea, the girls push themselves and grandpa in his wheelchair to the limit.
Along the way they face many challenges, but Clancy starts to believe that she is being guided on their quest by the ghost of her grandmother. When she sees a sign – the moon, a star, a bird – she becomes convinced they are on the right track.
This is such a heart-warming story about two sisters who are determined to help their grandfather. It was exactly what I needed to read right now at a time when we are focused on the importance of our families, especially the older members – that they not only get the care they need but continue to love life and be active in decision making within their family.
Author Kate Constable was inspired by her own family when her father Bill suffered a stroke. She was interested in exploring how family relationships can survive and even thrive despite the devastation of stroke and aphasia.
Kate Constable is a CBCA award winning author and after reading The January Stars it’s clear to see why. This will be my go-to book gift for 9+ readers – in fact I have already been relieved of my copy by an avid young reader in my house. I highly recommend it!
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