Returning to her hometown of Thornhill, Vicky Austin feels out of place. There she meets the great aunt of her friend and love interest, Adam Eddington, and they develop a fast friendship. On her 16th birthday, she is given a trip to Antarctica, where Adam is studying. But all is not as it seems...

While a bit slow in the beginning, it quickly jumps into the action and maintains it throughout. The descriptions are very detailed and most of the characters seem quite realistic. There are, however, many politic references and more obscure scientific facts that the average reader might not understand. The climax just appears, rather than building up to it, however it is interestingly woven into the story. The last 100 or so pages are hard to put down, and there are many twists and turns that keep you reading. Overall, a relatively good book.

After reading A Wrinkle in time I picked this book and was sure I would like it, but I asumed wrong. This book was O.k. It was a little confusing.The ending was too rushed and came to a conclusion faster then I would have liked. I had to read the ending several times before I finally understood it completely. I definitely think that this was not Madeleine L'Engle's best work.

Wow. I read a Ring of Endless Light earlier and, me, being stupid, didn't even know they were SUPPOSED to be connected. Nothing clicks together. Reading this, you'd think Adam and Vicky are different people all together!
BUT as a stand-alone book, if you just don't think about Ring of Endless Light, it's pretty good. At the end, it's a little sketchy and things just happen all at once. If you want to read it, I reccomend renting it from your library, but it's not quite worth buying.

I read this book several summers ago, maybe when I was in elementary school. For some reason, it got completely erased from my mind.
Much later on, in the YA section of a bookstore, I came across A Ring Of Endless Light. I bought it and devoured it, staying up for 24 hours to finish it. Though I loved the book, something kept nagging at me. Why did Vicky Austin seem so familiar? Then I read somewhere that L'Engle had written several books about the Austins. I figured out that I must of read the books in the wrong order. Piecemeal memories of the book came rushing back at me, and I struggled to remember the name. I don't remember how I found out that it was called Troubling a Star, but the point is that I did. Though I don't remember all of it, I remember how much I loved it and how safe I felt inside that book. The only other books that evoke such a safe feeling are The Golden Compass and Ella Enchanted (my beloved childhood favorite). I remember checking out a hardcover edition from the library, so I am devasted that I can only find paperpack editions. Somehow I can't imagine reading this in a paperback.

This book is one of my favorite L'Engle novels. I remember as a child loving L'Engle's books in the Time series. I am currently working on my PhD and realized several years ago that the most refreshing books to relax with (after reading hundreds of pages of expository text) were those classified as "young-adult" books. And L'Engle is one of my favorite "young-adult" authors!

This book is set in the school year immediately following the conclusion of "A Ring of Endless Light." And for those of you who loved that book as I did, you will be happy to know that in "Troubling a Star" you will get to see what happens to Vicky and Adam. Adam has the opportunity to go study in Antarctica and Vicky soon learns she has been given a gift of her very own study abroad trip. While the two don't travel together, their experiences and the dangers they both face tie their two trips together in a wonderful way. Buy this book to find out more...