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Okay, so I haven't posted recently because I was on a little trip to Costa Rica. Yay! But no internet access. However, the plane rides and nights where I had nothing to do have me ample opportunity to read Maureen Johnson's THE NAME OF THE STAR. I read 13 LITTLE BLUE ENVELOPES years ago and loved it, so I don't know why it took me so long to pick this one up. Perhaps because the inside sleeve was talking about ghost fighting and whatnot, and there is just so much out there on TV about that now. Lesson learned. Do not let book descriptions fool you, people. The book itself is always better.
So the book follows Rory Deveaux as she transfers from a small town in Louisiana to a boarding school in London, England. Reason A to love it. Maureen Johnson's knowledge of the city is so great as she perfectly describes the cityscape, the Underground, etc. It's so much more than her just having Google Mapped London and attempting to write about it. I could honestly put in my tour DVD of England and follow along if I had wanted to. Anyways, two thumbs up for Maureen Johnson on that front.
Reason B to love it is the historical aspect. Johnson gives thorough backround information on the murders of Jack the Ripper and the various events that followed, including letters sent to newspapers at the time, and she does this wonderful thing where she describes modern London and then tells you that in that very spot was room 13 where Mary Kelly was found brutally murdered in her own apartment...it's just brilliant. If I could, I would travel to England now, take this book with me, and follow the incredible map that she has laid out for us. (Oh yeah, there's a map in the front too, which I love, showing London and the locations of where all the Ripper bodies were found. Nice touch.) I was interested in the tales of Jack the Ripper before this, but now I'm even more hooked. I want to be a Ripper detective, too!
Reason C to love it is that if you know Maureen Johnson, you know that she's just a little bit funny. Or out there. Either one, you pick. But it definitely shows in this novel with the characters' sense of humour. Once I heard an author say that you could never make the narrator too quirky because then it wouldn't seem realistic. Maybe that's true. But Johnson has put little touches into Rory that make her just a little quirky, just a little more real, a little more like a teenage girl with a sense of humour. I enjoyed reading this book because it was like a slight insight into Johnson's mind, and that was cool.
The other great thing about this novel is that it is the first in a SERIES!!! Yeah, the cover on my book doesn't advertise that, but it is. The series, as far as I've heard, is called SHADES OF LONDON. Exciting! I can't wait until the next one comes out. I'm going to buy it right away.
If you love that touch of creepy as well, then this is also the book for you. I felt like one of the Londoners in the book, waiting around my television to find out who was murdered next. I would have placed bets if I could have. I was convinced it would be Jazza, Rory's best friend, or Charlotte, the evil prefect. At one point I was convinced it was Jerome, Rory's make-out partner and kind-of boyfriend-sometimes-when-it's-not-too-awkward-but-it-usually-is, committing the murders! I won't spoil anything for you though. You have to find out for yourself.
In conclusion, this book was amazing. I didn't want to put it down the whole trip, except sometimes I had to in order to go climb waterfalls and things. I didn't want it to get ruined!
-Victoria
Source for cover art: http://attackthestacks.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/review-the-name-of-the-star-by-maureen-johnson/
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