Jepp who defied the Stars

 
Characters;
Jepp

Setting;
tiny island in Denmark in the late 16th century

Jeep’s story is set some 25 years before Shakespeare set those words to paper, and the bulk of his story is his search for both his father and for proof that it is not our fates that define our futures but our actions and choices. And Jepp accomplishes both those aims in Katherine Marsh's intelligent and ambitious quest tale and coming of age story that spans not only several countries but also several social classes. One of the supporting characters in JEPP, WHO DEFIED THE STARS states that some people's lives are a continuous narrative and others' lives are split up into different volumes. The novel also feels cohesive because the theme of fate versus free will. The motif of stars also permeates every section of the novel and affects every character. Some cannot escape what the stars have plotted for them, either because they believe too much in their veracity or because they lack the force of will to try, but Jepp proves to himself (and to the person who ultimately matters most to him) that we are who we make ourselves.  A quote from the author "Some cannot escape what the stars have plotted for them, either because they believe too much in their veracity or because they lack the force of will to try, but Jepp proves to himself (and to the person who ultimately matters most to him) that we are who we make ourselves." I think this comment from the author is her making connections from her personal life to the book. She describes deeper meaning through characters she has in the book.

Jepp does, as the title of Marsh’s novel announces, defy what another less gifted and determined young man might accept as fate, just as Marsh transcends genre to create an engaging narrative complex enough to keep not-so-young adults turning its pages. After a series of misadventures, he even gets the full-size girl of his dreams, one whose kindness reveals Jepp to himself as “a centaur by moonlight,” a powerful and virile figure, formed differently from others, perhaps, but possessing chivalry, intelligence and grace nonetheless. The author An only child, Katherine Marsh spent a lot of her youth reading, trading stories with her grandmother who had run a bar in New York, and listening to her mother's frequent astrological predictions.