Book Review: Starabella, New Adventures and Mixed Emotions
Starabella is a captivating story about a young girl with learning differences who expresses herself through music. In the second book in this series, Starabella ventures out into the community and finds herself riveted by the circus but later faces sensory overload.
Within the community, Starabella finds herself forced to obey the rules of society. Her parents take her to the circus, where she creates her own music to accompany the trapeze artists and crowd. After increasing sensory overload, Starabella’s parents take her away from the circus, which creates an overwhelming mix of emotions.
Starabella goes to her piano and plays “A Mixture of Feelings,” during which she expresses emotions from happy to sad to scared and back to happy again. Starabella is determined not to give up, and she takes part in acrobatic class.
Like the other Starabella books, New Adventures and Mixed Emotions is accompanies by lively music and narration by author Sharon Fialco’s daughters, Dana and Tara. The colorful and stunning artwork accompanies the story, which makes the books a truly unique audio and visual experience.
New Adventures and Mixed Emotions highlights themes of determination and that sometimes you have to take a risk to meet your goals. The music that accompanies the book can be used in tandem with the book or by itself, and children will love learning the words and singing along to their favorite tunes.
Read more about the first Starabella book and the Fialco’s story and inspiration.
Written Cara Batema
