Crossing the Starlight Bridge (Aladdin Fiction) [Paperback]

Alice Mead (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1995 | Series: Aladdin Fiction

On Rayanne Sunipass's birthday, her father gives her a big box of crayons and tells her he's leaving their home on an island in Maine. Ray and her mother move to Gram's small apartment on the mainland, and suddenly, everything is different. In Ray's new school, there aren't any other Wabanaki people, and with her mother working long hours, Gram becomes her only link to their native traditions.

Ray doesn't know when, or if, her father will return. But even though she finds new friends on the mainland, she vows that someday she'll return to the island, and to all the familiar things she's left behind.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Springbrook, where Gran lived, is like another country" to Rayanne Sunipass, who has grown up on the reservation on Two Rivers Island, Me. But when her father leaves her and her mother, they are obliged to move from the island to this "other country," the mainland. Ray attends a new school, where other students tease her (" 'My dad said you Indians are lazy' "), and she misses her home, "the smell of stones" and "the rushing noise of moving water." Through her affection for her pet rabbit, Hop, and her artwork--she loves the big box of crayons her father gave her before he left, the colors of which inspire chapter titles--Ray finds a vision of beauty in the present and hope for a return to the island. The Penobscot legends told to Ray by Gran, which help her remember her Native American origins, add authenticity and interest to this mild story. First-novelist Mead is so earnest about her protagonist's feelings, however, that at times the story seems an overly fragile portrayal of characters who clearly demonstrate strength and resiliency in the midst of adversity. Ages 9-11.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5-Since shortly after her father's departure from the family's Maine island home on her ninth birthday, Rayanne and her mother have had to share her grandmother's apartment on the mainland. Uprooted from her Penobscot community, her best friend, and her beloved pet rabbit, Ray must adapt to a new school and learn to accept her father's absence, and, ultimately, his remarriage. The strengths of this story lie in the child's situation, so similar to that of numerous young people in today's world, and in the well-drawn characters of the girl and her grandmother-a strong, contemporary, optimistic woman whose warmth and encouragement are restorative. Chapter titles, each one a crayon color, serve as reminders of Ray's artistic talent, which is evidenced in several episodes in the story. Although Mead has carefully placed a Wabanaki design at the end of each chapter, she only hints at the family's cultural background, mainly by means of bedtime stories told by Ray's Gram. The child's acceptance of her father's remarriage and sudden eagerness to pick up the pieces of her life end an otherwise good novel a bit too abruptly.
Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Aladdin (November 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068980105X
• ISBN-13: 978-0689801051
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,947,334 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I had an unusually healthy childhood-sailing across the ocean on a steamship at age 7, visiting England,Scotland, and Norway, and playing endlessly with my dollhouse, which perhaps eventually lead to writing many books for children. Because I live in a refugee resettlement city Portland, ME, I wrote about displaced kids from war areas, Sudan, Kurdistan, and Kosovo. I was also an art teacher. The book, Soldier Mom, now 20 years old, was written during the first Gulf War, when we suddenly used a "reserve" army instead of an enlisted one. I had two active sons, dogs, rabbit, chameleon, hamster and later assisted 40 Kosova high school students. I loved gardening, painting, reading. But suddenly began to hurt everywhere, falling, weak. Nothing helped.I had to leave my job as an art teacher but was still able to write.
Nearly twenty years (plus a bout with severe cancer) into feeling weak, I now know I have Myasthenia Gravis, a neuromuscular disease that affects your eyes, breathing, endurance and speech.
I still write, paint, sing, practice my standup comedy, and take photographs. Really nothing inside me has changed at all. I fight to improve, laugh over the silliness of ordinary life, and am curious about all sorts of things.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful novel about family and cultural identity, January 20, 2001

By 

Susan K. Lineberger (Somerville, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crossing the Starlight Bridge (Aladdin Fiction) (Paperback)

_Crossing the Starlight Bridge_ is an extremely insightful novel for children that touches on both the imperfections of family as well as the importance of culture and identity. The protagonist, a young Penobscot girl from Maine, is unwillingly transplanted from an island where she lives with other Penobscot families and friends to the mainland, over the "starlight bridge". The reason for this move is that her father has left her mother, and for financial reasons they are forced to go live with her grandmother on the mainland. Of course all of this change is devastating for a young girl who feels robbed of everything familiar and comfortable in her life on the island, including her family, house, and Penobscot culture. Rayanne, the protagonist, is unwillingly forced to adapt to a new lifestyle.

Alice Mead does an excellent job of expressing the thoughts and feelings of this young girl as she struggles with the separation of her parents, resentment toward her mother and father, and the less peaceful ways of the mainland. Adapting to this new life is not easy for Rayanne, but her grandmother, who has learned to embrace Penobscot culture and yet function in the culture of the mainland, makes this transition much easier for her.

The grandmother's character is wonderfully written, and exudes comfort and stories and all that grandmothers should be. She is an imaginative woman, and sparks Rayanne's imagination through her own stories of Penobscot culture. As a result of this support, Rayanne is able to rebuild her life on the mainland and find her own niche with new friends and her family.

This is an excellent book for any child, but I think that kids who are dealing with major changes in their lives, especially their parents' divorce or separation, would especially appreciate _Crossing the Starlight Bridge_.

5.0 out of 5 stars Teaching LD291 in Maine, June 16, 2008

By 

Melissa S. Arbour "Happy Reader" (Maine USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crossing the Starlight Bridge (Aladdin Fiction) (Paperback)

This is a perfect resource to help teach about the Penobscot Nation located in Maine. Due to a new law, LD291, Wabanaki studies need to be taught in every grade in the state of Maine. This is a great book to introduce Wabanakis in grades 2-4. It does not include typical Native American stereotyping. The author obviously did a lot of research before writing this book.