The Constellation of Sylvie

by Roderick Townley

Book Overview

It's not easy being a heroine inside a story that no one is reading.But Princess Sylvie has an even bigger problem: By chance, she and the other characters from The Great Good Thing and Into the Labyrinth find themselves launched into outer space bound for the moons of Jupiter Here they must learn to act out their book's plot while floating weightlessly through the pages.If life is bizarre for Sylvie, it turns grim for the astronauts when their spaceship...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689857136
• ISBN13: 9780689857133
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Atheneum Books
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5

Customer Reviews

Lovers of Diamond in the Window, rejoice!

This book is the middle of a series featuring Princess Sophie. Like the books in the "Eyre Affair" series, and "Inkheart," it turns tables on the conventions of reading books. The characters are, let's say "activated" by readers. I picked up this book at the library because of the delightful cover art. In "Constellation," a beloved children's book about Princess Sophie, is carried into space. One of the conceits of this series is that the original children's book fell out of print and was re-written by the grand-daughter of a child who loved the original. William Goldman's "The Princess Bride" has a similar "genealogy" The three astronauts interact with the novel--reading it, being affected by various Einsteinian problems like aging backwards, and saving their voyage by being inspired by the book. I liked "Constellation" enough to go on to read "The Great Good Thing," first in this trilogy, and the historical novel "The Red Thread," also written by Townley. I am sorry that fewer readers found this book. Readers who like Jane Langton's Hall Family chronicles, Edward Eager, E. Nesbit, and possibly Madeline L'Engle will find Townley a pleasant discovery. Look in your library if you can't find this in the bookstores.