Children of the Stars

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Category:	Children
Author:	Paul Hayward
Publisher:	Melrose Books
Price:	£14.99
ISBN:	1-905226160
Pages:	170
Reviewed in issue:	4

I was immediately caught up in the story of Flos and St John as they embark on a dangerous quest to save planet Earth. Hayward is a confident storyteller; the text flows at a fast pace and the sentences are rich with description and emotion.

However, I feel that Hayward lets the novel down with his choice of subject matter. The characters meet Andromeda and the ‘little stars’, children who have suffered at the hands of adults on earth. The writer raises issues such as suicide, childhood abuse and ‘abortion babies’. It is an inappropriate and clumsy attempt to shoehorn morality lessons into what has been a light-hearted fantasy. Complex issues such as these, cannot be adequately conveyed to teenage readers in just a few sentences.

Hayward’s Wildflower Trilogy covers a wide range of subject matter, from Greek mythology, astronomy and botany. The author obviously wants his books to be educational, which on many levels it is, despite my reservations about some content.

This hardback edition has good binding, clear print and is professionally typeset. However, the cover price of £14.99 is a lot. The complete trilogy would set readers back nearly £45. Hayward has a great talent for storytelling, but if the trilogy is to be read by teenagers and he seeks mainstream appeal, the author needs to employ the services of an experienced editor.

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