From Publishers Weekly
Barron's debut novel is a splendid action-adventure science fantasy filled with deep, resonant emotional and spiritual undertones. When evil powers attack the sun, Kate's grandfather, a famous astrophysicist, embarks on a galaxy-spanning quest to save it from certain destruction. Refusing to be left behind, Kate sets off after her grandfather and is caught up in the ensuing cosmic struggle between the forces of light and darkness. On the surface, Heartlight appears to be an homage to the science fantasies of Madeleine L'Engle, and Barron does consciously tip his hat to her. However, his own imagination is so rich--the novel is filled with brave people composed of snow, mighty butterflies made of pure condensed light and terrifying, ferocious villains--that this book also shines as a bold, original effort worthy of repeat readings. Ages 10-14. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8-- Kate's astrophysicist grandfather, using his discovery of the relationship of light to the human soul, travels through the universe in search of a cure for Earth's dying sun. Following him to the star Trethoniel on the back of a giant butterfly, Kate becomes caught up in a dangerous and wonderful adventure; in the end it is not science, but human love, that triumphs over the Darkness. Barron relies heavily on description, which tends to slow the movement of the plot. Characters are not sufficiently developed for a story with only two human protagonists. Given the book's blend of science fiction and Christian ethos, comparison with the work of Madeleine L'Engle is inevitable. Barron's story has an imaginative setting and well-conceived themes, but it lacks the stylistic strength and apt characterization of A Wrinkle in Time (Farrar, 1962). --Ruth S. Vose, San Francisco Public LibraryCopyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Buzzworm, The Environmental Journal-1/91
An enthralling story to inspire any age reader to come along on a much needed journey of rootedness and hope.


Rocky Mountain News-10/90
Heartlight...crosses generational lines and becomes a vehicle for family discussions about love, death, independence and integrity.


Booklist-12/90
When Kate's grandfather does astrophysical research on the nature of light and its relations to the human soul, strange and ominous events occur....This thoughtful adventure combines fantasy, physics, and metaphysics in a manner reminiscent of Madeleine L'Engle.


Lloyd Alexander-11/90
Like Madeleine L'Engle, T.A. Barron very persuasively and very plausibly compounds great galactic adventure with questions fundamental to the universe-ours or any other....An absorbing story, deeply moving, deeply imaginative.


Madeleine L'Engle-11/90
What a joy to read Tom Barron's Heartlight. This is one of the best Science Fantasies I've read in a long time. The author manages to combine sophisticated concepts of physics with high fantasy in a marvelous way.


The Philadelphia Inquirer-12/90
Splendid fantasy, firmly in the tradition of Madeleine L'Engle and C.S. Lewis.


Review
"Bold, origiinal...thiks book shines! A splendid action-adventure science fantasy filled with deep, resonant emotional and spiritual overtones." --Publishers Weekly

"What a joy to read! This author manages to combine sophisicated concepts of physics with high fantasy in a marvelous way!" --Madeleine L'Engle, bestselling author of A Wrinkle In Time



Book Description
They were inseparable. Only Kate could coax her astrophysicist grandfather to stop slaving in his laboratory long enough to enjoy picnics in the garden. And only Grandfather's gentle humor could lift Kate out of her doldrums. His rambing New England kitchen was more home to her than anywhere else. Yet now something was different. Nobody--not even Kate--could get Grandfather to talk about his latest experiment. Only when a strange, otherworldly visitor nearly destroys the laboratory does Kate learn the truth of why Grandfather has been working so feverishly to identify a mysterious connection between the nature of light and the nature of the human soul. But before Grandfather has explained everything, he suddenly disappears--leaving Kate to search for him and for the secret that could save the planet Earth and the entire solar system from annihilation. Heartlight is a quest with the highest possible stakes, a tale of mystery and adventure that will be enjoyed by readers of all ages. It is the story of the extraordinary bond between a young girl and her grandfather, and an eloquent statement about the ability of one individual, armed solely with the power of love, to change the course of the stars. If you would like more information about Kate's adventures, please visit the tabarron website.


Card catalog description
Kate and her grandfather use one of his inventions to travel faster than the speed of light on a mission to save the sun from a premature death.


From the Author
For me, writing is exploring. Whether it's the surprising connections among people, the wondrous patterns of nature, or the mysterious wellsprings of the spirit--the universe beckons. I love to explore it, whether by foot or by pen. Writing is both the most joyous--and most agonizing--labor I know. And it is by far the best way to travel--in our world or any other. Ever since my youth on a ranch in Colorado, I've felt passionate about nature--and about writing. I wrote and published my own magazine as a kid, called the Idiot's Odyssey, which sold about five copies an issue (including the ones my parents bought). I kept writing during my college years at Princeton, and during my years at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. During that time at Oxford, I composed stories and poems while hiking in the Scottish highlands, while sitting beneath the boughs of an English oak I named Merlin's tree, while backpacking through Asia, Africa, and the Arctic; and while participating in a traditional roof thatching in Japan. Even during my years managing a fast-growing business in New York City, I often rose before dawn to write. Finally, I followed my dream to write full time. In 1990, I moved back to Colorado and started writing in the attic of my home, with the help of my wife and our five young children. I am currently writing a five-book epic about the youth of Merlin. This story gives me a chance to add a new dimension to the rich lore about this enduring figure. Why am I spending almost a decade writing about Merlin? Because he is much, much more than a great wizard. His story is, in truth, a metaphor-for the idea that all of us, no matter how weak or confused, have a magical person down inside-waiting to be discovered. If you would like more information about the epic or my other books, please visit my official tabarron website.


Excerpted from Heartlight by Thomas A. Barron. Copyright © 1990. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
Kate climbed atop a wooden stool and thrust her head into one of the deep cabinets built into the kitchen walls. Her muffled voice declared: "This kitchen has the deepest shelves! You could store an elephant in here." "That's a farmhouse kitchen for you," her grandfather answered. "Two hundred years ago, when this house was surrounded by nothing but wild woods and a few apple trees, those shelves had to hold all the provisions needed for a long winter." "Now they hold mostly spider webs," said Kate, still searching for plates. "Yes, I know." Pouring a heavy dose of cream into his teacup, he reflected: "Sunshine and cream, that's all my mother said she ever required for a happy life. In Scotland she found plenty of good Jersey cream, but not much sunshine. Now here I am in America, with plenty of sunshine, but inferior cream." As he took a sip, his eye caught a spiral-shaped prism, hanging from a string in the sunlight. Tiny fragments of rainbows swam across the wooden walls of the kitchen like shimmering fish of liquid light. "You know," he said pensively, "a person's life should be like a prism: inhaling light...exhaling rainbows." He pushed back some stray strands of hair. "If only it weren't so brief. If only there were more time." "Time for what, Grandfather?" asked Kate, descending from the cabinet with two handfuls of dust and spider webs, but no plates. Grandfather didn't answer. Since moving to this quiet college town a year ago, Kate had been his constant companion, watching him do experiments in the lab, helping him mount butterflies for his collection, joining him for long walks in the university woods, or entertaining him with attempts to mimic his rich Scottish accent. Even before the move, when she had lived an hour away, she had enjoyed visiting Grandfather every bit as much as her schoolmates would enjoy going to the beach or the amusement park. Although she had always been something of a loner, the kids at her old school had seemed to accept that fact; they understood that she was more interested in her books and her collection of rocks and crystals than in the usual after-school games. Now, however, life was different. Because her parents' appointments at the university--her father as chairman of the history department and her mother as a professor of geology--had caused them to move into town, a mere two blocks from Grandfather's house, Kate invariably came here straight after school. Whenever she stepped through his door, all of her problems seemed to melt away. If Grandfather was preoccupied with an experiment, she would just curl up for the afternoon with one of his books on crystals, cloud formations, space travel, or Greek myths. "Two peas in a pod," her mother had often called them. To which Grandfather invariably replied: "Two biscuits in a basket, if you please." They were inseparable. But not lately. For the last month or so, Grandfather had retreated deeply into his work, so deeply that even Kate's best efforts to rouse him had failed. He had always been a little absentminded, even during the years when he had been in charge of the Institute of Astrophysics. Yet now something was different. Even Cumberland sensed it. Most painful of all, Grandfather had taken to locking the lab door at all times, and he wouldn't--or couldn't--open it when she knocked. "You are feeling all right, aren't you? No more of those dizzy spells?" "Of course not, dear child. I'm fit as a fiddle." Trying not to sound overly interested, Kate asked: "Then what's been keeping you from answering the door to the lab? What is it you're working so hard on?" The old man drew in a thoughtful breath. "It's complicated," he finally replied. He scratched behind Cumberland's long ears. "Too complicated." "Is it another telescope?" she asked. "Like the huge one you built in South America?" "No, Kaitlyn. Designing that telescope was exciting, but not really my normal line of work." His face creased slowly into a smile. "I did enjoy those trips to Chile, though. I used to do some of my best butterfly collecting en route to the Southern Observatory." Kate continued to probe the cupboards for plates. "Another laser, then? You're inventing a new one?" A sparkle from the prism flashed in Grandfather's eyes. "No, not another laser. That would be a much simpler task." He resumed rocking the chair, as if for a moment he had forgotten Kate was there. She leaned across the counter. "Grandfather, do your experiments have something to do with traveling faster than light?" Grandfather stopped rocking, and his eyebrows lifted high on his forehead. "How did you ever--" "Look!," cried Kate, pointing to a tiny glittering form dancing on the fountain. "What an amazing butterfly!" Grandfather leaped to his feet. "Morpho nestira," he said softly in wonderment. "So you are still alive." As the butterfly settled upon the stone fountain, it began slowly to open and close its delicate wings, rhythmically, like a beating heart. Each time the wings opened, they flashed with iridescent blue, green, and violet--colors more brilliant than Kate had ever seen. As the wings drew closer together, the colors evolved from the deepest hues into an opalescent luster. The undersides of the wings, by contrast, were a simple shade of brown, with only a subdued pearly sheen around the edges providing any hint of the colors inside. Then suddenly: The wings reopened in a burst of brilliance, radiating blues and greens of impossible purity. "Those wings are like rainbows," Kate whispered. "Yes," answered Grandfather, "but even better....You see, something I learned from that butterfly could make it possible for people to travel to the most distant stars in the universe."

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
T. A. Barron's debut novel, Heartlight, originally published in 1990, has become a staple of middle school reading lists. The science adventure fantasy focuses on a young girl named Kate and her grandfather, who is a famous scientist. Kate is struggling to find her identity -- her parents recently moved to a new house and, in her new school, Kate is having trouble fitting in. The only real friend she has is her grandfather, who lives just a few houses away.

Every day after school, Kate goes to her grandfather's house, where she spends time with him when he's not busy in his laboratory. His current top-secret project is creating PCL (Pure Concentrated Light), a magical substance that has the power to liberate a person's "heartlight" so that they can travel anywhere in space. When he discovers that the sun is days away from losing all its power, Kate and her grandfather use their heartlight to travel to a distant star in a desperate quest to save the world.

Heartlight, the first book in Barron's Heartlight trilogy (which includes The Ancient One and The Merlin Effect) is a perfect book for teenagers interested in fantasy and/or spirituality. The story is reminiscent of young adult classics like Lois Lowry's The Giver and Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting. And although the subject of death and dying can be a somber one, the overall theme of this book is uplifting. In the words of Kate's grandfather: "I believe that every living thing has a time to die, as well as a time to be born￯﾿ﾽ The important thing is that they flowered beautifully while they were alive." Paul Goat Allen

ANNOTATION

Kate and her grandfather use one of his inventions to travel faster than the speed of light on a mission to save the sun from a premature death.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

A butterfly's wing, a silicon chip, and a new equation for light hold the key to humankind's boldest dream -- faster than light travel.

A distinguished astronomer and a sensitive young woman are hurled into a dazzling cross-galactic adventure when an unexpected discovery links the explosive uncertainties of quantum physics with the still-untapped psychic powers of the human mind.

PCL is a bold theoretical synthesis, launching a voyage through awesome wonders -- and into unimaginable terrors. For Dr. Miles Prancer, at the end of his career, has made a discovery too horrifying to share with humanity. He has found a black hole in the center of the Sun a spreading cancer that gives our solar system less than three years to live!

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING