Star Girl – Book 1 New Girl

Star Girl – Book 1 New Girl by Louise Park (MacMillan Education)

PB RRP $9.99

ISBN: 978 1 4202 9029 5

Reviewed by Wendy McLean

Girls, are you sick of stories about fairies or horses or unicorns? Well never fear, there is a new super hero on the block! 11-year old Adelaide Banks, aka Star Girl, is the newest student to join the SEAS (Space Education and Action School) Space Agent Program. Addie and her fellow students are learning how to protect space as they strive to graduate from Space Cadet to Space Agent.

At SEAS, students are sent on missions, for which they receive points for following instructions and successfully completing missions. They can also lose points for disobeying mission instructions or failing to successfully complete all elements of their mission. Addie and her students are equipped with all the latest gadgets for each mission, but they need to be courageous, creative and they have to learn to work together to overcome the obstacles that they encounter in their quest to save space. 

For her first space mission, Addie must join fellow student and enemy, the nasty Valentina. They must work together to discover what is melting the ice on the distant icy planet of Polare, and save the alien frozellas from extinction. 

This first book is a good indication of what girls can expect from the other books in this new series – adrenalin-packed missions, hi-tech gadgets, bizarre planets and petrifying space aliens. The lead character Addie Banks has to tackle not only these action-packed and sometimes terrifying missions, but also the normal troubles and worries that all young girls experience at school.    

This exciting and action-packed series, which combines real life and space fantasy, will appeal to girls in the lower to middle grade.