This is a book I remember loving when I was young, but I can’t remember the name of the book or the author. (I read it probably in the early 90's.) I remember it being about a girl and a young boy (who might have been her brother) living on a space station and somehow getting stranded on the dark side of a moon or planet. There were some alien animal things that everyone was terrified of that lived on the dark side, but I seem to remember the kids befriending some of them. Edited to add more stuff I think I remembered: I remember the alien animal things lived in a pack, and had piebald/mottled skin. They were considered to be dangerous and terrifying, but turned out to (I think) be telepathic or otherwise able to communicate. I don't remember how it ended, but I'm pretty sure there was more than one book.
1 Answer
Could it be Larklight by Philip Reeve?
When I read your description, I was reminded of this story which I only have a vague memory of myself. I remember the story detailed the Lunar flora and fauna, and the two children, girl and boy, are the main characters, although the story continues on past this scene—to where, I am not sure.
From the Wikipedia page,
The story begins at Larklight, a house that orbits Earth's moon, where the Mumbys receive a visitor from the Royal Xenological Society, a Mr. Webster, who is revealed to be an extraterrestrial resembling an enormous white spider. Art and his sister Myrtle escape; but their father is captured and held prisoner.
Art and Myrtle leave in an escape pod and crash-land on the Moon, where they are encased with predatory larvae of the Potter Moth and freed by pirate Jack Havock and his crew.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larklight
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So I re-read the question, saw the note about reading it in the early 90's. That alone would disqualify this as an answer should you be certain of that date. May 19, 2018 at 0:08
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I don't remember this being steampunk at all, but I'm pretty sure I read Larklight as well. May 19, 2018 at 0:09
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@MsAldrich yeah, I didn't go deep into the book when I had read it. I read maybe the first few chapters which didn't exactly feel like steampunk, though I'm sure later on through the story Philip makes the distinction. May 19, 2018 at 0:12
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About the date, yeah, I'm pretty certain on it....I read it while I was around grade 6 or 7, so that would be early 90's. May 19, 2018 at 0:22