If you'd rather place an order by talking to one of our cheerful order desk clerks, please call 1-888-232-4444 (USA and Canada only) or 250-383-6864. From Europe, ring our UK order desk clerk at local rate number 0845 230 9601 (UK only) or 44 (0)1865 722 113.

Star of Mirp

by B.G. Hopkins

60 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #04-0114; ISBN 1-4120-2286-X; US$12.00, C$14.00, EUR10.00, £7.00

A boy with a silver glimmer in his heart, and the world spread before him, can do wonderous things. Such is the magic of the Star of Mirp.

Read more!

About the Book      About the Author      Excerpts      Catalogue Information

About the Book

A boy in his quest for a star must begin a long journey and must learn many things. Such was the beginning of Kerry's magic year. He must find the Star of Mirp before the wicked queen destroys him. But first he must learn to read backwards.

---

About the Author

B.G. Hopkins is a retired educator who lives in Northern California. She is also the author of Kilroy was Here.

---

Excerpts

And then he just sailed away ...right out of the room...right out of the school...off into somewhere.

The air was cool and crisp, the water was a lovely shade of blue, and ahead of him, was the glowing star.

But what was he sailing on? Not a ship, certainly. He had never been on a real boat, but he knew that none looked like this. This green-pained craft was flat like the raft they had made on the creek once, but Kerry's craft had been bumpy and rough, being made out of odds and ends of lumber donated by the neighborhood dads. Now Kerry put out his hand and felt a smooth, flat surface, like paper of cardboard, and cut in an oddly shaped pattern..."Like Brazil!" he said aloud.

"And mine is like Argentina," said Gary, close by. "But look at poor Chunky! He's riding on Chile and he can barely hang on. Look out, Chunky," he called, "you're going to fall off!"

Indeed, he did at that mmoment, with most surprising results. He simply lay on the water and looked at everyone in amazement. "It's not wet!" he exclaimed.

By now, Kerry's whole class seemed to be floating about on pastel colored shapes, and, one by one, as they dipped their hands overboard in the water, they echoed Chunky's surprise. The water was as smooth and flat as a painted surface. In fact, that's what it was. They were sailing on a map...a huge map of the world.

As if to prove they were right, Ethel-Marie began to point to something on the blue surface. "Look," she squealed, "here's P-A-C..."

*****

Kerry began to say, I'm glad we can't read it...but he stopped short. Words leaped at him to spell out: "KERRY KELLY."

"Why, look!" he told Chunky. "Why is my name here?"

"Your name," snorted Chunky, after another look. "I don't see your name. I just see, 'Yrrek Y11ek...eraweb'..." He spelled it out, laughing over such gibberish.

Kerry did not laugh. He felt quite pale and almost frightened. "Beware of the star...," he whispered. "Than's what it says. 'Kerry Kelly, beware of the star...'"

"How can you read that?" demanded Chucky in awe. "It doesn't say that to me.

Kerry felt both confused and frightened. He was glad to hear Gary call them from the ground below. He scrambled down with Chunky, swinging from the silver spangles to the ground.

*****

The Queen of Mirp looked very thoughtful. "Oh Kerry," she replied, "I do not know. Ebolg, perhaps. But as for the land of the Seinaem," she shivered delicately. "I hope you never go to that place. Indeed, I hope you do not."

It was on the tip of Kerry's tongue to ask why, but before he could say another word, a whirring sound began in the distance, and soon drowned all other sounds. The air was filled with silvery white moths arriving in large numbers, whirring as they perched on leaves of trees and plants, and even upon the ground.

They were such strange little creatures, quite large for moths, about the size of Kerry' head. When the children looked more closely, they could see they were really not moths at all, but strange little men, dressed in shiny silver uniforms, to which were attached the moth-like wings.

"Its an army!" Whispered Gary in awe. "A real army of little men."

The commander of the little group wafted himself gently to the queen where he made a sweeping bow. "Your majesty", he began, in a squeaky voice, "I have most terrible news."

***** "It is not page five," said Miss Prim's voice in exasperation. "Haven't you been following the lesson at all, Kerry! Very well, since you have been sitting there daydreaming all that time, while the rest of us read about maps, you can just stay after school young man. And you'll not go home until you've satisfied me that you have learned something about geography."

Kerry felt most confused. He was in the classroom where he should be at a quarter to three. But he had a dazed feeling that he had been somewhere else. Where?

If he had been daydreaming, what had been his thoughts? Was it about the tree house they had built last summer? Yes, there was something about a tree house, but what? Somehow , he just couldn't remember.

So he stayed after school until four thirty, and he read every blessed page to old Miss Prim. He tried to concentrate, really he did. He even tried to listen while she lectured on the importance of paying attention and taking part in class discussions. He tried to look sorry when she told him how shameful it was not to be more interested in reading better...backwards and forwards.

Yet, somehow, some part of him seemed quite detached, as if he didn't belong here at all, as it he should be doing something very important right this minute in some far away place not listed in Miss Prim's geography book.

*****

The airplanes skimmed to the dry, barren ground and the children stared about them at the stark black trees that pointed piteously to the sky. Not a leaf, not a blade of grass, not a living thing greeted them.

"This can't be Mirp," the children murmured. "It can't be Mirp!"

Ethel-Marie gave a sad little cry. She was crouched beside a parched bit of ground, and it was several minutes before Kerry recognized this as small pool where the little silver fish once swam in the Mirp of the past.

"Rather nasty business, eh?" boomed a voice nearby and as the children jumped about face, a small, stout man in the loudest suit Kerry had ever seen appeared before them.

*****

The children nodded and began to file out quietly not bothering to listen to the sputterings of Mr. Koorc who declared in a dozen ways that they were foolhardy children courting disaster. Just as the last of them reached the door, however, Mr. Koorc suddenly stopped speaking, and stood in thought, as if trying to make a decision.

"Well," he said in resignation, "if you must go, at least take a ...er map with you. Yes, that's it -a map." He handed Kerry a small paper, neatly folded. "Foolish youth!" They heard him muttering as they left. "Always rushing off to get involved in the troubles of the world. I doubt if you even know why!"

A map was better than nothing. Kerry prepared to spread it out on the street in front of Mr. Koorc's office so everyone could see where lay the land of the Seinaem, where surely the Queen of Mirp must be.

"That's strange!" Kerry observed. "Did you notice this map is folded like an airplane?"

And then, as if to prove it was a paper plane, it suddenly rose from the ground where they had placed it, and danced crazily across the street.

"Stop!" the children cried, and the people of Ebolg who were milling about the streets joined them curiously. "Stop!" the crowd roared, but the plane dipped and swirled mischieviously and Kerry felt a moment of terror that it would vanish completely into the blue sky and they would never know the way to the land of the Seinaem.

But, instead, it suddenly plummeted to earth and Kerry snatched it up in relief as the people of Ebolg cheered. He placed it flat upon the pavement (Being careful to keep a tight grip upon it, you may be sure) and the children clustered about.

Now came the truly amazing part. It wasn't a map. In the most delicate writing, in pale silvery-blue ink was written this message:

"Wollof em."

"Wollof em!" repeated Gerry in disgust. "What kind of language is that?"

French, guessed some of the children. Spanish? Juan said no, it wasn't Spanish.

Kerry had the strangest feeling. He picked up the paper and looked closely.

"'Follow me'!" he whooped so loudly that everyone jumped. "I know that's what it says. "Follow me"

"Even if you're right, what do we follow?" asked Piggy.

Their answer came. A little breeze whipped at the map. Slowly the paper began to fold itself into an airplane shape and the next minute, it began to pull itself daintily from the ground and than it drifted slowly down the street.

*****

Their descent into the canyon was swift and Kerry could feel and hear the cold air whistling past him as they drifted downward. From somewhere, the moth commander had produced a paper plane. This was rather an amazing feat, but, at the same time, Piggy and Kerry were in such a hurry to be off that they simply climbed on top of the folded paper, and with the moth man perched in front to guide them, began to float downward. Behind them they heard the whispered good-byes of the other children, and Gerry's "I wish I could go, too!"

The plane bumped to a stop and they slid off. It was shadowy dark in the canyon and shivery cold. All about them were strange, unexplained noises.

"Quickly," said the moth man, "over here!" They followed the faint glimmer of his white wings to a small stone building. As they crouched inside its doorway, the shadows seemed to lift and Kerry caught his first glimpse of the land of the Seinaem.

Trailing across the bleak scene was a small group of sorry-looking people, all chained together, all mournfully following a large ugly man. Following this group was an equally ugly looking creature. He was a large-boned person with squat, ugly features. He was dressed in all black, except for a large gold ring in his nose. Across his shoulders he had slung a wickedly ugly whip.

"Ytsan...Queen Name's right hand man," breathed this moth commander.

Ytsan removed his whip and unfurled it in the air. "Kneel!" he bellowed, and the prisoners knelt on the ground, chains clanking.

*****

"Very well," said Queen Naem, her angry voice hissing in the silence. "I will give you twenty-four hours more to think it over, my queen. Then, you will give me your star." She laughed wickedly. "Yes, yes, in twenty-four hours you will be glad to give me your star!" Her glossy mouth, more black than red, smiled mirthlessly, and her laugh was so horrible that Piggy and Kerry clutched each other in fright. Then she swept her shiny black train behind her and marched up the stairs. The guards, row upon row, filed silently behind her.

Ytsan stayed behind and Kerry watched with a terrible kind of fascination as he chained the Queen Mirp to a thin iron pole. Then, giving the ground a thwack with his whip, he too descended the stairs. At the top, he stopped and gazed penetratingly down. For a moment Kerry thought perhaps he had glimpsed the two children cowering in the stone building. But shadows spread across the courtyard, and when Kerry was able to see the top of the stairway again, Ytsan had turned.

*****

Kerry's fingers reached into his desk gropingly. Then he bent over and peered inside in a sudden panic. Where was his book? Suddenly he remembered. He had taken it home to study the afternoon before and there it was still.

Miss Prim stood by his desk and the plant of her feet have grim forbodings. "Well?" she demanded.

"I left my book at home," Kerry told her in a small choked voice.

With a disgusted sigh, she handed him the one she had in her hand. "Take mine," she said in resignation. It was opened to a page—page forty-eight, and she laid it that way on Kerry's desk.

The picture on the page stared back at Kerry so grimly he almost cried out in terror. It was Queen Naem's picture. Her beautiful, cruel face looked at him in complete hatred. Then, as Kerry stared in disbelief, her glossy lips parted and he saw, rather than heard, the words...

"Come!...Come to me now! I command you, Kerry Kelly. Come!"

Miss Prim still stood at Kerry's side. "Your must do as she says!" she told him gently.

Kerry sat at his desk, feeling completely confused, dumbly staring first at the picture, then at Miss Prim.

"You must settle this business once and for all," Miss Prim announced briskly. "Now, be off with you!"

"But how?" Kerry asked. Then, suddenly, he knew. He just walked into the book... right into page forty-eight. It was so easy to do that he marveled he had never done it before.

As he walked through the page, he knew somehow Miss Prim was right. Now was going to be the settling of everything connected with Mirp...and the two queens...and the star.

Naem stood waiting for Kerry ringed by the evil Ytsan and is guards. She smiled cruelly, and her eyes gave him a crafty, calculating look.

"So, she announced. "I have finally found you, my clever young lad. "Now, tell me quickly! What have you to do with the star? Do you know where it is hidden?"

*****

"Look at the star," the queen demanded. The sparkles seemed to burst about them until the children themselves seemed covered by the lovely silver. The star, and the queen, and all of Mirp melted into the glittering silver as they watched and they heard the queen's words, like a far-away sigh, "Goodbye, my children."

But Kerry heard only the words she had whispered to him alone...

"I will see you again, Kerry Kelly..."

"...after school! Said Miss Prim's voice. "This is the most destructive thing I have ever seen. Why did you do this terrible thing, Kerry?"

Kerry looked down at the book he held in his hand. It was page forty-eight in the book Miss Prim had laid on his desk, but somehow the picture of the queen, at the top of the page was ripped out.

---

Catalogue Information

---