Circling the Stars

Ani’s dad has moved out, and the new shape of her family, just her and her mum now, is something she is still struggling to find her footing in. She spends much of her time at her bedroom window, watching the world outside rather than joining it, until one night she notices a boy from next door, a little older than her, slipping out of his house. Eventually, curiosity gets the better of her and she follows him.

What unfolds from there is something quietly magical. The two children discover an urban fox they name Matty, who later becomes Estrella when they realise she is expecting a litter of pups, and they take it upon themselves to watch over her and her new family. In doing so, both children find an anchor outside their own uncertain lives, something to care for and be curious about together, and almost without noticing it, they begin to heal.

Told in verse, this is a simple and genuinely beautiful story about two children learning to live alongside change they cannot control. Laura Sheldon has a wonderfully light touch: the verse carries the reader gently through the narrative, never straining for effect, and the book’s themes, the importance of protecting the natural world, the necessity of accepting change, the unexpected power of friendship, emerge naturally rather than being announced. Both the poetry and the message reveal themselves slowly and tenderly, exactly in step with Ani’s own growing understanding.

There is real wisdom in how the novel handles its emotional material. Ani’s grief over her parents’ separation is never minimised, but neither does it overwhelm the story. Instead, the novel shows, with real delicacy, how children find their way through loss by reaching outward, towards nature, towards each other, towards people who turn out to be more willing to help and support them than they had imagined.

This is a small, perfectly formed book that trusts its young readers to sit with complexity and stillness, and rewards that trust generously. A lovely, moving verse novel that deserves to be read slowly, and more than once.