Starfinder by John Marco

I'm not entirely sure why this was not placed in the junior or young adult fiction sections of the library; or rather, why John Marco wrote this book to be geared for adults when I think it would be much more successful among children (if in fact it wasn't misplaced; I forgot to check the genre code before I turned it back in).

A simple but compelling story, Starfinder tells of two young teenagers trying to find their place in the world. The common themes are personal sacrifice and loss of innocence, for both the adult characters as well as the younger ones. Moth and Fiona both lost their parents shortly before the story begins and become friends; yet they are perfect foils to each other even through similarities in their past. Fiona is slightly older and feels some responsibility for Moth, yet often he is the one who has to tell her to have faith and carry on. She is headstrong and reckless, yet insecure, while Moth is cautious and thoughtful, for the most part.

The children set off on a magical mystical adventure when Moth's friend and caregiver, Leroux, dies, leaving Moth with a mysterious gift: the Starfinder. Fiona's grandfather, the governor of Calios, the city in which they live, happens to be an old comrade of Leroux's, and thirsts after the Starfinder. So naturally, the two kids decide to remove it and themselves from the governor's grasp, and head into a forbidden area known only as The Reach.

There they find mermaids, dragon sages, angel-like creatures known as Skylords, centaurs, and other strange things. Antagonists shift; at first the kids run from Rendor, Fiona's grandfather, but Rendor comes to a personal epiphany and realizes he cares for Fiona herself, not the Starfinder. It turns out the King of the Skylords is the one we really should be all fighting against; he has outlawed flight to all except Skylords. So the dragons and humans who wish to be free, and claim their birthright to the sky, must band together to fight his tyranny.

So it's only a little confusing, emotionally anyway, but not impossible to shift loyalties to include Rendor among the protagonists after a time. There are battles and blood, though not too descriptive, death of friends, etc, but I still didn't think it was too mature a story for young teen readers. Overall I enjoyed the simple story, though it remains unfinished- the end was open for the next book to pick up.