Starry night

Pieces of Another World

by Mara Rockliff; illustrated by Salima Alikhan

Jody’s Dad wakes her late at night, but won’t say where they’re going. To see “pieces of another world” is her only clue. Not until their pick-up rattles into a dark forest clearing does she learn she’s there to see a meteor shower.

The suspense builds swiftly by repeating the signature phrase in different contexts until Jody pieces together what her father means. The text is set in white against the deep, purlply-blue hues of midnight speckled with stars. Alikhan’s watercolors are wet and lush, bleeding and washing into each other, as every picture seems to melt into the vast, starlit sky. Her small town in the wee hours is lonely and quiet, her forest thrums with unseen life.

Astronomy activities in the back are worth letting older kids stay awake for.

Rating: *\*\*\