# Is "The Arm of the Starfish" by Madeleine L'Engle a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Arm of the Starfish by Madeleine L'Engle (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1965) is identified by: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Ariel) first edition dated 1965; blue cloth binding with white lettering on the spine, in dust jacket. US Farrar, Straus and Giroux (New York), under the Ariel juvenile imprint, is the true first edition; the firm adopted the 'Giroux' name in 1964, so a 1965 first correctly reads FSG.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Ariel) first edition dated 1965; blue cloth binding with white lettering on the spine, in dust jacket
- First O'Keefe Family novel featuring Adam Eddington and Poly O'Keefe
- Publisher imprint reads Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Madeleine L'Engle |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
| Year | 1965 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Children's / illustrated |
| Key point | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Ariel) first edition dated 1965; blue cloth binding with white… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Ariel) first edition dated 1965; blue cloth binding with white lettering on the spine, in dust jacket. First O'Keefe Family novel featuring Adam Eddington and Poly O'Keefe.

## Is this the true first?
US Farrar, Straus and Giroux (New York), under the Ariel juvenile imprint, is the true first edition; the firm adopted the 'Giroux' name in 1964, so a 1965 first correctly reads FSG.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Book-club reprints generally lack a jacket price and first-printing indicators.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Arm of the Starfish* by Madeleine L'Engle a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-arm-of-the-starfish
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.