Singing the Dogstar Blues - Hardcover

Alison Goodman

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670036102 ISBN 13: 9780670036103

Publisher: Viking Juvenile, 2003

Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old Joss is a rebel-the daughter of a famous newscaster and a sperm donor; a wild girl who can play a mean harmonica; a student of time travel at the prestigious Centre for Neo-Historical Studies. This year, for the first time, the Centre has an alien student. Mavkel, from the planet Choria, has chosen Joss-of all people-as his study partner. Can this very different pair manage to live together, much less learn from each other? Singing the Dogstar Blues is a genre-breaking mix of humor, science fiction, and adventure that will keep readers riveted.

About this title

About the Author:

This is Alison Goodman's first novel.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 8 Up-This highly entertaining Australian novel is an unusual mixture of genres: time travel, comedic mystery thriller, and realistic portrayal of familial and alien relationships. Surprisingly, it works extremely well entirely due to the fact that the main character is so perfectly drawn. Joss Aaronson, 18, is an independent, spirited, and feisty young woman with a sarcastic mouth. She rarely sees her mother, a famous newscaster. Joss was conceived via a gene donor: "Straight from the petri dish to you." She's been expelled from several boarding schools and is close to expulsion from a prestigious university program in time-travel studies. For the first time, an alien from another planet has been admitted, and Joss is his study partner and roommate. A wicked harmonica player, she is intrigued that Mavkel's species communicates by harmonizing through song. His twin has died and he will, too, if he doesn't find someone with whom to join minds. He chooses Joss, although to help him, she needs to find out who her father was. Thus, the partners embark on a dangerous, illegal journey back in time. The plot and characterizations are well done; the book has lots of action, witty dialogue, and pop-culture references, and sensitively portrays complicated relationships between a mother and daughter, and members of different cultures. This book is more inventive than Mary Logue's Dancing with an Alien (HarperCollins, 2000) and, unlike M. T. Anderson's Feed (Candlewick, 2002), the tone of the made-up language is meant to be funny. While easy to decipher, the language is a bit crude. This intriguing and exciting read has lots of teen appeal.
Sharon Rawlins, Piscataway Public Library, NJ
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking Juvenile
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0670036102
• ISBN 13: 9780670036103
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224