City of Stars (Stravaganza, Book 2) - Softcover

Hoffman, Mary

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1582349827 ISBN 13: 9781582349824

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens, 2005

Synopsis

When she purchases a tiny figurine of a winged horse, Georgia's life is greatly altered as this talisman has the power to take her back to different periods in time and away from the chaos in which she lives, such as the land of Remora where the excitement of the Stellata, the annual horse race, has brought the city to life. Reprint.

About this title

About the Author

Mary Hoffman is the author of many books for children, including the internationally bestselling Stravaganza series. She lives in Oxfordshire, England.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up-This second volume of the trilogy continues the story begun in City of Masks (Bloomsbury, 2002). Georgia, a 15-year-old with a hateful older stepbrother, finds herself transported to 16th-century Talia (Italy), when she goes to sleep holding a little winged horse figure she bought in an antique shop. She awakes in a barn where a coveted, rare winged horse has just been born. She quickly finds herself involved in the intrigues and conflicts between rival families and the preparation for the Stellata, the annual horse race among the competitive elite families. The di Chimici family is seeking to extend its power and control and sees the race as another step in reaching that goal. At the same time, its patriarch is devastated by an accident that left his youngest son, Falco, crippled. When Falco, dismayed at his now limited future, meets Georgia and learns that she can travel across time and place, he resolves to stravagate permanently to her time, where modern medicine may be able to give him a normal life. Georgia eventually helps him to get to England, but his transition to life there seems somewhat contrived and too neatly resolved. The book climaxes with the horse race and Falco's death in his own time when he becomes a modern-day boy. The concept of stravagation is appealing and is used well to create an adventure tale that takes readers back into the 16th century with all its drama. Fans of the first book will find the sequel equally appealing.
Jane G. Connor, South Carolina State Library, Columbia
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About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1582349827
• ISBN 13: 9781582349824
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 464