The Starplace

Historical fiction that starts out light; I actually grinned a couple of times. But there are some very serious bits, too. Focus mainly on racism, but also on sexism. Both girls are delightful, and everyone else is interesting, too. Thank goodness for the epilogue to bring back hope. All but the most sensitive readers should be able to handle it; all but the most callous will be moved.

"And if people really believed words didn't hurt you, why'd they teach their little kids that sticks-and-stones rhyme? If something didn't hurt you, you didn't have to tell yourself in a rhyme that it didn't. It just... didn't."

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