Customer Reviews

Miranda and Starlight (The Starlight Books, 1)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
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Miranda and Starlight is my ALLTIME favorate book! Miranda goes on adventure after adventure!!! She always has a new daring idea!! These books are a MUST read!!!!

My daughter, who loves horses just about more than anything else, loved this story. Since she isn't able to read at this level yet we would sit down every evening and read a few chapters together. My daughter, son and husband all enjoyed the story and each one got something different from it. We can't wait to read the sequel...

Miranda Stevens is a lonely fifth grader who feels that if she only had a horse of her own everything else in her life would be okay. Then in response to a dare by Chris, a boy who has a habit of bullying others, she mounts a beautiful black horse named Starlight who is pastured in a field just beyond the schoolyard fence and begins a wonderful adventure of scrapes, narrow escapes and quandaries that teach Miranda life lessons in honesty, trust and courage. Beautiful black and white illustrations by Pat Lehmkuhl enhanced Janet Muirhead Hill's charming and highly recommended story for young readers.

Miranda Stevens had been sent to live with her grandparents while her mother searched for work as a model. At school she felt left out and alone. She was the only girl in class who did not own a horse. Miranda was sure that if she only had a horse of her own nothing else would matter.

Then a new girl, Laurie Langley, came to the school. While still getting to know each other, they met Christopher Bergman.

When Christopher dared Miranda to ride the most beautiful horse she had ever seen, she never hesitated. That dare began a series of adventures for the three friends.

This new series is PERFECT for both boys and girls, especially if they are fond of horses! The author shows that if you act without thinking the consequences can be dire indeed!

The story is very well written, flows smoothly, and is easy to understand. The adventures of Miranda will keep young readers glued to the book as they watch the trio of friends learn lessons of honesty and loyalty. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED SERIES!

Miranda Stevens had been sent to live with her grandparents while her mother searched for work as a model. At school she felt left out and alone. She was the only girl in class who did not own a horse. Miranda was sure that if she only had a horse of her own nothing else would matter.

Then a new girl, Laurie Langley, came to the school. While still getting to know each other, they met Christopher Bergman.

When Christopher dared Miranda to ride the most beautiful horse she had ever seen, she never hesitated. That dare began a series of adventures for the three friends.

***** This new series is PERFECT for both boys and girls, especially if they are fond of horses! The author shows that if you act without thinking the consequences can be dire indeed!

The story is very well written, flows smoothly, and is easy to understand. The adventures of Miranda will keep young readers glued to the book as they watch the trio of friends learn lessons of honesty and loyalty. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED SERIES! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch.

MIRANDA AND STARLIGHT SERIES OF SIX BOOKS BY JANET MUIRHEAD HILL, ILLUSTRATED BY PAT LEHMKUHL is an absolutely delightful new horse book series. Written for upper elementary and young teens, the books will fascinate adults as well. I couldn't put them down! Ten year old Miranda, the orphaned product of a broken home, vanished father and wild mother, lives with her grandparents on their farm. She loves horses and dreams of owning one, but believes it could never be possible. The first book introduces the beautiful horse of her dreams and how she becomes attached to it through lying and mischief, for which she gets into trouble. Being the new girl in her classroom, she is shunned by the "in crowd" and develops a troubled friendship with the lonely Laurie, a mulatto who feels like a misfit, and Chris, the "fat boy" in the class. Their escapades and trials capture your mind and heart. Every young person will adore this series!

From a reviewer's viewpoint, and as a person who enjoys reading, this is a wonderful story for young readers.

My opinion on this story is much different than the critic in Massachusetts gave. I felt drawn into the story and was impressed with the perspective shown. This is a story that shows what can happen when children lie and also how to tell the truth. I believe there are a lot more parents out there who are like the boy's parents than most would like to believe. Hopefully there are more out there who are like Miranda's Grandparents who show love and understanding when dealing with Miranda's situations. I enjoyed this book even though I'm an adult. I would reccommend this book to any child who can read. It may show them reading is fun when the story is fascinating like this one.

Miranda and Starlight was a favorite series of mine when I was younger, so now coming into possession of them is a thrill! When I was about 10, I would read these books over and over again - I loved them. So, today, having not read the first book in nearly 6 years, I sat down and read the whole book through in a matter of hours. The first book was just as good as I remembered! Once again, I was instantly drawn into this children's book and was captured right away, immediately feeling myself being whisked away into Miranda's life.

Miranda is a like able character. She cares more about a certain horse than anything else, though often the way she takes out her admiration gets her into huge trouble. Miranda does learn lessons, finally after many attempts at doing things her own way and getting herself into trouble and hurting others. It is hard to review this book alone, as it is one in a series, as I can frown upon Miranda's behavior in this book yet know she learns many valuable lessons in the following stories. Suffice to say that even though she was a little rotten, I really liked Miranda. She was a bit mean and violent towards a bully of hers, but learned her lesson when she became friends with one the boy. Lets just say Miranda learns a lot of lessons throughout the book - something all of us do, especially at her age(10)! One thing I can say for Miranda is that she loves her friends and family a lot. And though she lies a lot through the book, by the end she has learned a great lesson in honesty.

Laurie is my favorite character in the book. She is so sweet and kind - I even remember liking her the most when I read them when I was ten. She's very gracious and just a bubbly, fun character. You don't get to know her very well just by reading the first book, but by the end of the series you will have fallen in love with this charming young girl.

Chris was such a funny character to me. In the beginning, on might feel that he was a little wimpy...but as you start to get to know him and his personality, you begin to like him more and realize he's just a kid who wants to please everyone and doesn't want to let his parents down. While he was a bit of a bully in the beginning and often loses his temper, I still really loved his character and found his downfalls to simply make him look more realistic. This book definitely wouldn't be the same without Chris. His and Miranda's arguments often made me chuckle - they were quite the funny twosome!

As for content, there was nothing major to be pointed out. Laurie mentions Chris loving Miranda, which is why he bullied her. Miranda's scoffs at this and that is the end of it, though. Also, Miranda is somewhat violent at the beginning of the book and actually gives Christopher a bloody nose(this made me laugh). She also sneaks around and disobeys an adult's orders to stay off of his property. She does this repeatedly. Miranda also lets her grandparents, whom she lives with, believe that she is somewhere or with someone when she isn't. When she is found out, she does get in trouble, though.
Miranda lies quite a bit and is very sneaky. While the owner of the stables, Cash Taylor, was gone(the guy who told her to stay off of his property) Miranda calls a vet to look after a horse who Cash had ordered to be euthanized, and dragged two people into it, too. In the end, she is found out and has learned her lesson after Starlight nearly dies and Cash is injured. When her grandparents find out, they put her on probation, and while I would say that that is far from an appropriate punishment, I was simply glad that she had learned from her mistakes. Chris also kept a secret from his parents, but later he came completely clean. While it may seem like a lot, the rottenness of the children had no effect on me at age ten, and they did learn their lessons. I actually recognized it when they were bad when I was younger and told myself that's how not to behave. lol

All around, this is a wonderful book that I recommend to young girls, around ages 9-13 or so. I look forward to reading the next book - Starlight's Courage.

"Miranda and Starlight" is the first in a series of six books featuring Miranda and Starlight. In this exciting adventure, for young readers, Janet Murihead Hill has captured something of the young reader's insecurity, fear, and pride. Miranda and Chris find it difficult to communicate openly with their parents.

Miranda desperately wants a horse. Chris needs to learn to ride his. Intricate plot twists bring them together in a complicated web of lies, and deceit. Through the events that unfold Miranda and Chris learn lessons in the importance of honesty, responsibility, courage, and trust.

Hill's writing is powerful and inspiring. Illustrations by Pat Lehmkuhl bring another important dimension to the story. Her pen and ink drawings are strong as they create and identify the settings and the characters in the story. She also has the amazing ability to depict the emotions the characters are feeling through facial expressions and body language.

This is a story for the young reader as well as an excellent read aloud story for delightful, cherished family nights at home.