Starkeeper - Paperback

by Christopher Mannino (Author)

A trickster moon. A shattered sky.

An irritated cat.

And a very worried broom.

Jaq, now thirteen years old, must take his father's place as a nightkeeper: fastening stars to the sky each evening and collecting the bulbs again each dawn. But Jaq doesn't care for the family business. Nightkeeping is unskilled, monotonous labor, and Jaq dreams of becoming a respected poet instead. He envies his friends who have a choice.

Jaq is approached by Ukko, the Man in the Moon, who promises to take Jaq's place, but it's a trick. Ukko is jealous of his sister, the Woman in the Sun, and her brighter shine. Ukko plans to steal the sky's stars from the nightkeepers, hoping to add their light to his own.

Jaq's experience with Ukko disorients him and he accidentally drops stars. Banished for this unspeakable mistake, Jaq must travel the world, from the Beyond, the unknown area past the sky, to the gear-filled center of the Sun, hoping to retrieve them. After stars shatter, Jaq combines nightkeeping and poetry to forge a new set of stars. He needs their light, and an open heart, to save both day and night.