Constellation of Sylvie - Softcover

Roderick Townley's first book about Sylvie, The Great Good Thing, was a Top-Ten Book Sense Pick, praised by Kirkus Reviews as "utterly winning...a book beloved from the first page." Its sequel, Into the Labyrinth, was hailed by the New York Times as "a hopping fine read." The present volume completes the Sylvie cycle. Mr. Townley has also published the novel Sky, described by VOYA as "one hell of a book," as well as volumes of poetry, nonfiction, and literary criticism. He has two children, Jesse and Grace, and is married to author Wyatt Townley.

Grade 4-9–The story land inhabitants inside The Great Good Thing (2001) and Into the Labyrinth (2002, both S & S) now find themselves wrongly loaded onto a ship and launched into outer space. Princess Sylvie and her fictional costars find life inside a book turned upside down. Microgravity and the laws that bring normalcy to Earth are only the beginning of adjustments that the fleshly crew and book characters must overcome. Astronaut Kara is the only being to read the medieval drama when the mission is dealt a fatal blow. Trouble with the flight parallels trouble inside story land as Princess Sylvie realizes that the court jester Pingree has become her nemesis, and that the spaceship has missed its entrance to Earth's atmosphere. Even in the midst of her own grim problems, Princess Sylvie realizes that the fate of the astronauts depends on the intervention of the storybook crew. More than just cardboard characters, Princess Sylvie and the cast grow beyond their own narrow roles of text. The well-paced plot is in keeping with the first two books and beautifully marries two realities into a clever telling of tales. NASA space facts bring authenticity to two worlds existing on one plane. The quick pacing and easy reading add to an already witty blend.–Robyn Gioia, Bolles School, Ponte Vedra, FL
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