May Bird Among the Stars: Book Two (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: dark spirits, wild hunters, death shroud, Somber Kitty, Ever After, Risk Falls (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7–This sequel to May Bird and the Ever After (S & S, 2005) picks up the story with Ellen Bird mourning the loss of her daughter. Meanwhile May and her pet, Somber Kitty, find themselves on a spectral train in Ever After. Anderson has clearly had a great deal of fun creating a world not so different from our own where spirits go after death, and readers will love her humorous jabs at popular culture. Joined by her ghost companions, May journeys through spooky haunts such as Risk Falls, the home of the spirits of daredevils who died in sports such as climbing or surfing. May's quest is to find the Lady of the North Farm, the one person who can tell her where she can find the portal that will send her home. At the same time, Bo Cleevil is trying to snuff out Ever After, and May is the only one who can save it. It seems odd, particularly within the conventions of this genre, that May's only desire is to return home, leaving her companions without the assurance that she will come back. Readers will need to have read the first book to get the full impact of this one.–Tim Wadham, Maricopa County Library District, Phoenix, AZ
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

This sequel to May Bird and the Ever After (2005) finds May Bird and her cat Somber Kitty, who remain stuck in the Afterlife, on their way to the Far North, where they hope to find the Lady of the North Farm and a way home. When their train breaks down, stranding May, Kitty, and their spectral friends, they continues on foot, encountering dangerous spirits and seductive diversions on their journey. The Bogey still wants them, sending first the maniacal Wild Hunters, and then his most dangerous spirit, Commander Berzerko, in pursuit. In the meantime, May remains torn between going home and saving the Ever After from Evil Bo Cleevil. In some scenes Anderson deflates the suspense with contrivance, making the danger seem too cartoonish, but her readable novel gives kids a cast of likable characters and a quirky world to explore. May's uncertainty about her ability to be the warrior she's supposed to be will resonate with readers. Krista Hutley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum (September 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068986924X
• ISBN-13: 978-0689869242
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #824,881 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 2 in The May Bird Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shiny Stars, September 24, 2006

By	Little Willow (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

What happens when you're lost in a strange world and need to find your way home? If you're May Bird, you enlist the help of some unique friends, face the bad guys head-on, and believe that you'll get home, no matter what.

May Bird Among the Stars is the second book in a trilogy. It picks up right where the first book, May Bird and the Ever After, leaves off. May is the only living human in the Evil After, where ghosts and the undead roam. She and her loyal cat, Somber Kitty, must escape before the evil Bo Cleevil finds them.

This book does just what the middle book in a trilogy should do: continue the story set up in the first book, offer changes, dangers, and rewards to existing characters, introduce new characters, and have skirmishes with the villains.

May Bird Among the Stars is just as funny and well-paced as its predecessor. It delicately balances the humorous bits with the scary parts, and is intelligent enough to engage adults while fun enough for the target audience of kids.

As soon as the third and final book comes out, I plan to read it all in one sitting. I am quite anxious to see how this wraps up!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars adventurous and creative! 5 stars, December 15, 2006

A Kid's Review

well, i must say this book rocked. Its the second book in a trilogy, starting out right where May Bird and the ever after left off. Its about a timid young girl who finds friends in unexpected places and grows in bravery. The "crew" travels around the ever after, searching for the fabled North Farm and the lady who is calling to May. There are many suprises, like when the location of Beatrice's mother is found, when the group of the undead is found, and the face-off with May and Bo Cleevil. It shows how May learns to see past her fear, and to be brave for the sake of the world (or the dead world, at least). The action isnt overdone, and it doesnt have a hero who is good at everything. Nothing exceedes the limit of what any normal girl May's age could do. I really think that in the third book, May will return to the ever after, although the reason is uncertain. (like when it says at the end " how could May leave? For here was where her friends lay, and where a world needed her" or something close to that. I really look forward to the third book, and would recomend this to anybody. Happy reading!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ghost Town, December 13, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: May Bird Among the Stars: Book Two (Paperback)

May Bird-Among the Stars


May Bird- Among the Stars, by Jodi Lynn Anderson, is a fun fantasy fiction. It is also a sequel to the first book, May Bird and the Ever After.
May Bird- Among the Stars is about May Bird, and her journey through the world of ghosts. She is traveling with her friends, Pumpkin, a house ghost, Beatrice, who is looking for her mother, Captain Fabbio, who is looking for his lost crew, and Somber Kitty, May's hairless cat from home. As you might know from the first book, May and Kitty aren't dead, and soon find that they are not alone. There's a secret colony of "un-dead" underground.
I loved this book, because it's filled with adventure. If you liked the first book, you'll love this. Will May save everyone? Will Beatrice be reunited with her mother? Will May and Kitty get back home? Find out here!