The Catalogue of the Universe - Softcover

“Margaret Mahy is outstanding in the richness of her ideas and in her great storytelling ability.” Twentieth Century Children’s Writers

“Of course, like everything Margaret Mahy writes, it is very funny ... written with an awareness of the possibilities of language which can only be called poetic, and drawing convincing family relationships ... such pleasures should be widely shared.” TES

“Mahy’s impulsive, ‘non-predictable’ style makes all convincing by sheer vividness and verve.” TLS

Opposites attract...?

Angela May and Tycho Potter couldn't be more different: she is tall and beautiful, confident and carefree; he is short and serious, plain and self-conscious. Angela is popular and sexy, with many boyfriends; Tyke prefers the company of his books and watching the skies through his telescope. Tyke has a huge crush on Angela, yet these two 18-year-olds are unlikely best friends. He loves and is mentally tortured by her in roughly equal measure.
Angela acts out her burning desire to find and confront her father, whom her mother describes as having been the love affair of her life, but the truth is a very different story which shatters all her childhood imaginings. After a dramatic confrontation it is to Tycho she turns for support, and as their very different worlds collide they begin to understand the unpredictability of life as the repercussions touch everyone around them.