Skip to main content
Plotting the Stars 1: Moongarden

Plotting the Stars 1: Moongarden

Current price: $10.99
Publication Date: September 12th, 2023
Publisher:
Pixel+Ink
ISBN:
9781645951285
Pages:
368
The Winchester Book Gallery
1 on hand, as of Apr 26 8:37pm
(JUV* (BISAC Category))
On Our Shelves Now

Description

“Moongarden blooms with heart and adventure. A stellar update of The Secret Garden, woven with a little science-fiction, a lot of magic, a vibrant heroine, and a plucky robot sidekick to rival R2-D2.”
—Victoria Aveyard, New York Times bestselling author

Now in paperback! The Secret Garden meets The City of Ember as an unlikely heroine confronts loneliness and crippling parental expectations, finding her seed of courage to weed out an intergalactic government conspiracy tied to failed climate change policy in this STEM-inspired series starter.

Centuries ago, Earth’s plants turned toxic, rendering life on the planet impossible, and humanity took to space to cultivate new homes. Myra Hodger is in her first year at an elite school on the Moon to train and develop her Creer in math as a Number Whisper—like her famous Number Whisperer parents. But she’s crumbling under the pressure, she doesn’t fit in, and worst of all, the tattoos that signal her Creer growing aren’t developing. In her heart, she knows she doesn’t have a Creer, and soon, everyone else will, too.

Wandering the school while cutting class one day, she discovers a secret lab hidden behind one of the unused classrooms, and beyond that, a secret garden overflowing with plants. Dangerous toxic plants. 

But as Myra learns the garden isn’t a threat, she begins to wonder if she does have a Creer—one that died out when the Earth did. If she wants to learn the truth about the garden and herself, she’ll have to hurry. There are those who'll do anything to take these secrets to the grave.

 Re-envisioning The Secret Garden for a new generation, Moongarden introduces a dynamic heroine who just might grow a revolution.

Named to the Texas Lone Star Reading List
An Indiana Young Hoosiers Book Award Nominee
Named to Read Aloud Indiana Middle Grade List
Named to the Great Words Great Books List (Official Book List of the Scripps National Spelling Bee)

About the Author

Michelle A. Barry grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts, and was later cajoled over the border into Connecticut by her future husband. She has worked as a newspaper reporter, freelance writer and editor, and marketing professional. She currently lives in Connecticut with her charming husband and their two delightful children. Moongarden is her first novel.

Praise for Plotting the Stars 1: Moongarden

★ "This Secret Garden retelling . . . works beautifully in its new space setting. . . . The storytelling is immersive and engrossing, touching on environmental issues, class structure and prejudice, and the struggle to find one’s truest self. Readers will be eager for the next installment in this marvelous, magical universe."—Booklist, Starred Review

"Twelve-year-old Myra’s about as scrappy and inspired as they come, and readers will likely be eager to see what she does next. ."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Debut author Barry smoothly incorporates contemporary—and perhaps perennial—issues of elite education, pressure to succeed, corporate corruption, class divides, systemic prejudice, and environmental depredation while delivering a boarding school story in a believable off-world setting. . .  Nicely realized, intriguingly complex, and well set up for sequels."—Kirkus Reviews