Indigo's Star by Hilary Mckay

                                                         

 

 

2003   

This is the second book in the series about the Casson family. It’ is mainly Indigo’s story as the title suggests. However, younger sister Rose also plays an important part.

The family is to a large extent is dysfunctional.  Mother is absent-minded, sleeps a lot and often forgets to buy food. Father lives away from home. Both parents are artists, each eccentric in their own way.  However, there is a lot of love between the siblings.

Indigo is bullied at school but largely copes with it. He is also recovering from glandular fever. Rose wants her father to come home and she does not want to wear her new glasses.

New boy Tom arrives at the school. He now becomes the focus of the bullying and takes some of the attention away from Indigo. He has other problems. He is staying with is grandmother as he has not been getting on with his father, stepmother and stepsister. He bounces a ball a lot, likes climbing on to roofs and plays guitar. He longs to own a rather expensive guitar he sees in the local music shop.

All comes good in the end: Indigo confronts and overcomes the bullies, spurred on because Rose is in danger. Tom is reconciled with his family when his step-sister becomes ill. Rose accidentally breaks his guitar and in her panic phones her father who rushes home.  Money is little object to him and he buys the expensive guitar for Tom.

Tom goes home. Rose and Indigo climb on to the roof. Rose can see the stars now because she is wearing her glasses.       

The book is 244 pages long.  The text is blocked but double-spaced. The font has a serif. The chapters are quite long.