Plotting the Stars 1: Moongarden

by Michelle A. Barry

Overview

"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 of Red Queen

The Secret Garden meets The City of Ember. Failed climate change policy, an intergalactic conspiracy, and the magical, unlikely heroine who could unearth it all. An explosive STEAM-inspired series starter perfect for young change makers.

Centuries ago, Earth’s plants turned deadly, and humanity took to space to cultivate new homes. Myra Hodger is in her first year at an elite school on the Moon, and she’s crumbling under the pressure. She doesn’t fit in and, worse, the tattoos that signal her Number Whisperer magic aren’t developing. In her heart, she knows she doesn’t have a Creer, and soon everyone else will, too.

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

As she learns more about the garden, Myra begins to wonder if she does have a Creer after all—one that died out when the Earth did. One that could help solve the food shortages the government doesn’t want anyone to know about.

Re-envisioning The Secret Garden for a new generation, Moongarden weaves together STEAM themes and intense social pressures in a stunning series starter, and introduces a dynamic heroine who might just grow a revolution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781645951261
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	11/01/2022
Series:	Plotting the Stars
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	175,841
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.60(d)
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

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.

Editorial Reviews

★ "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

"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

From the Publisher

2022-08-03
It’s 2448, and Myra discovers that the world of plants and growing things might exist outside of history texts.

Twelve-year-old Myra Hodger is a struggling first-year student at the exclusive Scientific Lunar Academy of Magic, where students begin Creers in science, technology, and the magic that accompanies them. The calling of an individual’s Creer is reflected in Inscriptions that appear on the skin. Myra’s parents are well-known Number Whisperers, mathematicians whose passion distracts them from Myra’s growing awareness and worry that math is not her Creer; she has yet to see any sign of mathematical formulas appear on her skin. When Myra’s exploration of the school during one of her frequent hours of class-cutting reveals an astonishing hidden garden, she is drawn to the plants growing there in a profound way. But plants are now forbidden—billions of people died during a worldwide toxic mutation of plants on the Old World—Earth. The survivors live in settlements on several planets, and food is manufactured according to formulas that are now malfunctioning. 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. Most characters read White.

Nicely realized, intriguingly complex, and well set up for sequels. (Science fiction. 9-14)

Kirkus Reviews