Overview

Full Product Details

9781665972178

Table of Contents

Reviews

The Siren and the Star is powerful, sensual, and just as musical as the fascinating history. -- Margarita Engle, Newbery Honor winning author of The Surrender Tree and Young People's Poet Laureate Emeritus Blood Water Paint meets The Lucy Variations in The Siren and the Star, a lyrical verse novel that entwines the stories of two young women passionate about music centuries apart in Venice. The alternating points of view kept me on the edge of my seat as both musicians headed toward an inevitable crescendo. Such a beautifully-written tale! -- Kip Wilson, award-winning author of <I>White Rose</I> ""With THE SIREN AND THE STAR, Colby Cedar Smith proves herself to be a poetic maestra, deftly crafting a multi-timeline, multi-character narrative that shimmers with magic and music. The stories of Lula and Barbara resonate long after the last page, inspiring readers to harness the power and potential of their own unique voices. A soaring, symphonic novel-in-verse.""  -- Rebecca Caprara, award-winning author of <i >Spin</i>

Blood Water Paint meets The Lucy Variations in The Siren and the Star, a lyrical verse novel that entwines the stories of two young women passionate about music centuries apart in Venice. The alternating points of view kept me on the edge of my seat as both musicians headed toward an inevitable crescendo. Such a beautifully-written tale! -- Kip Wilson, award-winning author of <I>White Rose</I> ""With THE SIREN AND THE STAR, Colby Cedar Smith proves herself to be a poetic maestra, deftly crafting a multi-timeline, multi-character narrative that shimmers with magic and music. The stories of Lula and Barbara resonate long after the last page, inspiring readers to harness the power and potential of their own unique voices. A soaring, symphonic novel-in-verse.""  -- Rebecca Caprara, award-winning author of <i >Spin</i>

""Lyrical, layered, and richly imagined, The Siren & the Star brings 17th-century Venice to life through two intertwined voices and a long-buried stanza of the past. Colby Cedar Smith has created a melodic masterpiece of hidden history. ""    -- #1 <I>New York Times</I> bestselling author, Ruta Sepetys  Luciana “Lula” Gabroni dreams of becoming a star. After being homeschooled by her mother, she is attending the New England Conservatory of Music in hopes of realizing her dream. She and her friends are all chosen by their History of Music professor to compete at a music festival in Venice, Italy. For her research ­project, Lula chooses to research 17th-century composer Barbara Strozzi, who went from being an ­illegitimate servant to one of the most important composers of the Baroque period. After Lula suffers an attack that leaves her afraid to sing, the trip to Venice and her connection to Barbara slowly help her heal. ­Written in verse, Smith weaves between ­Lula’s experience in 2025 and Barbara’s in the 1600s, using the dual time line to give readers a glimpse into the lives of both young women and show the powerful connections between the two and their shared trauma and resilience. Although the characters of Lula and Barbara are dynamic and appealing, some of the secondary characters fall short. Still, the verse engages readers in this story of female strength. VERDICT ­Readers of books in verse, romance, and music history will all be drawn to this ­engaging book -- School Library Journal * 10/1/25 * Luciana “Lula” Gabroni dreams of becoming a star. After being homeschooled by her mother, she is attending the New England Conservatory of Music in hopes of realizing her dream. She and her friends are all chosen by their History of Music professor to compete at a music festival in Venice, Italy. For her research ­project, Lula chooses to research 17th-century composer Barbara Strozzi, who went from being an ­illegitimate servant to one of the most important composers of the Baroque period. After Lula suffers an attack that leaves her afraid to sing, the trip to Venice and her connection to Barbara slowly help her heal. ­Written in verse, Smith weaves between ­Lula’s experience in 2025 and Barbara’s in the 1600s, using the dual time line to give readers a glimpse into the lives of both young women and show the powerful connections between the two and their shared trauma and resilience. Although the characters of Lula and Barbara are dynamic and appealing, some of the secondary characters fall short. Still, the verse engages readers in this story of female strength. VERDICT ­Readers of books in verse, romance, and music history will all be drawn to this ­engaging book -- School Library Journal * 10/1/25 * Two girls living centuries apart are connected by music—and something more mysterious. In 2025, 17-year-old Lula is attending the New England Conservatory of Music after being home-schooled by her mother, who aggressively supports her dream of becoming a famous singer. Lula struggles to find her footing, even as she forms friendships with her roommate and classmates, including a boy she develops romantic feelings for. When she begins a research project for her History of Music class, she’s inexplicably drawn to Barbara Strozzi, a prolific but often-overlooked Italian composer of the baroque era. An invitation to join an ensemble that will compete at a music festival in Venice feels like a breakthrough for Lula, but a sudden, traumatic act of violence threatens everything she’s worked for. In 1635 Venice, Barbara is a sharp-witted servant girl with a gift for music. When some powerful men make a condescending wager on whether she can become an accomplished musician, she seizes the opportunity, determined to defy the odds and forge her own path, even as she grapples with sexism and injustice. Moving between the girls’ lives, this dual-timeline novel gradually reveals the bond that connects them. Told in evocative verse, this skillfully crafted and emotionally resonant story explores ambition, resilience, identity, trauma, and the reclamation of women’s voices across history. The main characters are cued white; there’s some racial diversity among secondary characters. Dreamy and thoughtful. (note about story structure, author’s note) -- Kirkus * September 1, 2025 * The Siren and the Star is powerful, sensual, and just as musical as the fascinating history. -- Margarita Engle, Newbery Honor winning author of The Surrender Tree and Young People's Poet Laureate Emeritus Blood Water Paint meets The Lucy Variations in The Siren and the Star, a lyrical verse novel that entwines the stories of two young women passionate about music centuries apart in Venice. The alternating points of view kept me on the edge of my seat as both musicians headed toward an inevitable crescendo. Such a beautifully-written tale! -- Kip Wilson, award-winning author of <I>White Rose</I> ""With THE SIREN AND THE STAR, Colby Cedar Smith proves herself to be a poetic maestra, deftly crafting a multi-timeline, multi-character narrative that shimmers with magic and music. The stories of Lula and Barbara resonate long after the last page, inspiring readers to harness the power and potential of their own unique voices. A soaring, symphonic novel-in-verse.""  -- Rebecca Caprara, award-winning author of <i >Spin</i>

Author Information

Colby Cedar Smith is an award-winning poet, novelist, and educator, and the author of two novels in verse: The Siren and the Star and Call Me Athena. Her work has been chosen as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, a Cybils Award Poetry Finalist, a Goodreads Choice Best Poetry nominee, a Kids’ Book Choice nominee, Independent Publisher Book Award winner, a Nautilus Award winner, a Michigan Notable Book, and a winner of the Midwest Book Award for YA Fiction. Colby has also been a recipient of the New Jersey Council on the Arts Fellowship in Poetry. You can find her on Instagram @Colby_Cedar_Smith.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available