To See the Stars

In her deeply-affecting final novel, acclaimed children's writer and storyteller Jan Andrews gives us Edie Murphy—an indomitable and engaging heroine on the cusp of womanhood. The novel moves from Edie's remote Newfoundland outport to St. John's and finally to New York City's Lower East Side. Against the background of the history-making "Uprising" of 1909, when 20,000 garment workers went on strike for better working conditions, and the devastating Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (1911), Edie begins to find her own voice, hone her already-strong will, and learn about the true nature of home. A celebration of the strength of women and the power of community.

The author of numerous books, including The Auction, The Very Last First Time, and When Apples Grew Noses and White Horses Flew, which won the Silver Birch Express Award, Jan Andrews received the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canadian culture as a children's writer and pioneer of Canada's storytelling movement. She died in 2017.

Tara Bryan is a painter and book artist who has been making books for more than 30 years. She learned letterpress printing and bookbinding at UW-Madison, and continued taking workshops at the Center for Book Arts in NY. Since moving to Newfoundland in 1992, she has shared her enthusiasm and knowledge, teaching workshops and hiring assistants to work and learn in her studio.

"Jan Andrews' To See the Stars powerfully evokes the voice of Edie Murphy, a young girl from a Newfoundland outport whose journey brings her from her isolated fishing village to the bustling streets and factories of New York City. The world of the early 20th century—in New York, in St. John's, and in the tiny village of Atterby—is beautifully depicted, and Edie emerges as a resilient and engaging heroine."