Authors are always being asked, ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’ For The January Stars, the answer is easy. The initial inspiration for this story came from my own family. Several years ago, my father, Bill – my children’s papa – had a severe stroke on the left side of his brain. At first, his right side was completely paralysed and he was unable to speak, write or remember numbers or the alphabet. When I began to write The January Stars, I made the character of Pa more independent than Bill was at the time, but now Bill has caught up! After a lot of hard work and rehabilitation, he can walk short distances, though he still uses a wheelchair. Bill might not be able to speak, but he can express himself in other ways and his stubborn, determined character is as vivid as ever. In this book, I was interested in exploring how family relationships can still survive and even thrive despite the devastation of stroke and aphasia. The biggest difference between the novel and real life is that my wonderful mother, Jan, is still very much alive and a vital part of Bill’s daily life.
Sadie isn’t thrilled when her mother drags her from the city to live in the country town of Boort. But soon she starts making connections – connections with the country, with the past, with two boys, Lachie and Walter, and, most surprisingly, with the ever-present crows. When Sadie is tumbled back in time to view a terrible crime, she is pulled into a strange mystery. Can Sadie, Walter and Lachie figure out a way to right old wrongs, or will they be condemned to repeat them?
WINNER: CBCA Book of the Year, Younger Readers, 2012
‘Crow Country is a book that sweeps you deliciously off your feet into a world where you feel immediately at home; with Kate Constable you know you are in safe hands. A thoroughly enjoyable read. Highly recommended.’ Magpies
‘Crow Country is a novel that readers will dive straight into and devour …’ Bookseller + Publisher
‘The text is evocative, the characters are sympathetic and the story is absorbing.’ Good Reading
‘Sometimes you read a book and you don’t want it to end. For me, Crow Country was such a book.’ Ballarat Courier
When Eloise’s get-rich-quick dad moves them back to his home town to turn the derelict family mansion into a convention centre, Eloise feels an immediate bond with the old house. She begins spending all her time there, ignoring her strange grandmother and avoiding the friendly boy next door. Then Eloise meets a ‘ghost girl’ who may or may not be from the house’s past, and events take a strange – and ultimately dangerous – turn.
‘A deserted house, a grieving girl; the perfect ingredients to take you on a journey between reality and fantasy. Cicada Summer makes you believe that anything is possible. My skin prickled, my pulse raced and I couldn’t put the book down until I’d finished.’ – GLENDA MILLARD
‘A treasure of a story, a story to slip into your pocket like a feather or a perfectly round stone—for keeps. Reminiscent of the old-fashioned storytelling I loved as a child, like Tom’s Midnight Garden, but with a contemporary flavour.’ – PENNI RUSSON
The January Stars Page 19