The Star of Kazan

infobox Book |
name = The Star of Kazan


image_caption = First edition cover
author = Eva Ibbotson
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Children's
publisher = Macmillan
pub_date = 2 July 2004
pages = 388
isbn = ISBN 978-1405050029

"The Star of Kazan" (2004) is a novel written by Eva Ibbotson. It is about a child called Annika who was left as a baby just days old in a church. A cook called Ellie took her home and looked after her in Vienna.

It won the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Silver Award and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. [ [http://www.booktrusted.co.uk/nestle/ Nestlé Children's Book Prize] ] [ [http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/ The CILIP Carnegie Medal & Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards] ]

Plot summary

For Annika, life in Vienna was perfect but for a missing piece of the puzzle; the mystery of her real mother. When a beautiful, rich lady announces she is Annika’s long lost mother, Annika is delighted to be in a family with a “von” in its name. She is taken back with her to Spittal, the family's estate, but she doesn’t really enjoy it, until she meets a friendly Romany boy called Zed. She doesn’t understand how she could have been happier with Ellie (her founder as a baby and servant to the professors), but she was. Annika's "mother" sent her away to a very harsh boarding school called Grossenfluss, but the professors and Stefan manage to rescue her, in the process bringing down the downfall of the terrible school. Suddenly, her life was turned upside down when she inherits a box of jewels. She discovers the true nature of her mother and in the end discovers that her “mother” is really someone just trying to get the jewels from her. She manages to escape back home.

Characters

During this gripping and enjoyable story, she meets rivals and friends. Some of the main characters are:Ellie, Sigrid, Hector the dog, Professor Julius, Professor Emil, Professor Gertrude, Zed, Stefan, Pauline, Gudrun, Hermann, and Edeltraut von Tannenberg.

There are many more characters, and they all seem to play an important part in the story, but the most important ones are listed in the above.

Annika: Annika is the main character in this story. Found by Ellie and Sigrid in a church as a baby, she has lived all her life in Vienna, Austria. She is a servant in the house of the professors, and often went to visit an old women, who was formerly known as the wonderful actress, La Rondine. After Frau von Tannenberg arrives, claiming to be her mother, she travels to Spittal, and befriends Zed and his three-legged dog, Hector.

Pauline: Pauline is a shy girl who is a bit afraid of the outside world, but is comfortable living with her grandfather, who owns a book store. She is a close friend to Annika and Stefan.

Stefan: Stefan Bodek is the son of a poor washerwoman. His father is a groundsman in the Prater. He is the third of six brothers(and as mentioned in the book, the strongest). He was the one who dropped Professor Gertrude's concert grand harp and brought about the downfall of Grossenfluss.

Edeltraut von Tannenberg:Frau von Tannenberg is Annika's 'mother'. She is later found out to be a woman trying to cheat Annika out of a trunk of priceless jewels.

References