Stjarna's Stars by Patricia Squire is an adventure fairy tale for children from nine years and up. Little Stjarna wakes up in the middle of the night. A volcanic eruption is underway, and she is terrified! The next day, Stjarna cannot recognize the once-familiar landscape. Stjarna's parents, Olaf and Helga, want to move from Iceland because their land is not good for farming anymore. Olaf, Helga, Stjarna, and her older sister, Sofie, embark on a long journey to Canada's New Iceland, where they will get free land for their new farm. Stjarna wants her beloved grandmother to join them. But she refuses and gives the girl a wooden box with ten beautiful lace stars to make wishes on them. Stjarna wishes to find new friends during their exhausting trip in a steamship's steerage. Suddenly, she hears two troubled elves talking! They are scared and hungry on a big ship in the Atlantic Ocean. Stjarna looks after the elves and hopes for new adventures. What awaits Stjarna and her family in New Iceland?

Patricia Squire's Stjarna's Stars is a beautifully illustrated and informative coming-of-age story. The author masterfully interweaves realistic historical fiction with Icelandic lore, creating a gripping read for the whole family. I do not doubt that adult readers will enjoy it as much as I did. From this educational book, children will learn many interesting facts about life on a farm and what chores young family members used to do in the second half of the nineteenth century. Squire explains in detail what a sod house is and how to build it. The author doesn't hide from her young readers the hardships of the multi-stage trip from Iceland to Canada. But a touch of magic and a kind heart can turn even the most challenging conditions into a thrilling adventure. This uplifting tale inspires families to work together and help their neighbors rebuild. Stjarna sets a great example for children. She is only nine but wants to be helpful and agrees to perform even the most unpleasant tasks. Stjarna's story has a wonderful twist at the end and a moral in its heart.

In Stjarna's Stars, a children's story by Patricia Squire, in 1875, in a little town in Iceland, Stjarna Olafsdottir witnessed a volcanic eruption that changed her life. Her parents decided to move to New Iceland in Canada, taking her and her sixteen-year-old sister, Sophie, with them. Before the family leaves, Amma, her grandmother, gives Stjarna a box of homemade white lace stars to take with her on the journey to Canada. She hopes Stjarna will remember the good times they shared and make wishes on the stars. During her long journey, Stjarna encounters two elves, Frida and Snorri, who are also traveling to Canada. She hides the elves in the box of stars Amma gave to her, and they go with her to New Iceland.

Patricia Squire's interesting story teaches readers about the culture, customs, and traditions of the Icelandic people. Squire discusses how the families had to work together to survive and details a few practices, like making dyes for fabrics from flowers. The author outlines the harsh traveling conditions from using a bucket as a family bathroom to coexisting in a small space on a boat with hundreds of people. The characters grow as they make their journey, with Sophie changing her perspective and Stjarna sacrificing something dear to her to remedy a mistake. Squire has thought of everything to make the book a collectible title, from a pronunciation guide to detailed pictures. Readers who enjoy well-researched stories with adventure and a touch of folklore will love Stjarna's Stars.