Ten-year-old Star Mackie lives in a trailer park with her flaky mom and her melancholy older sister, Winter, whom Star idolizes. Moving to a new town has made it difficult for Star to make friends, when her classmates tease her because of where she lives and because of her layered blue hair. But when Star starts a poetry club, she develops a love of Emily Dickinson and, through Dickinson’s poetry, learns some important lessons about herself and comes to terms with her hopes for the future.Finished
About the Author
I wrote HOPE IS A FERRIS WHEEL and love love love reading. I read a lot of comics these days, and less fiction, but I'm trying to get back into the prose world.Just a quick note: I do not check the notifications here very often! I do add books occasionally, especially when I have something to say about them.
If you want to contact me, please do so through my website: robinherrera.com
Twitter: herreracus
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Website: http://www.robinherrera.com
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My Review 4 Hopeful Stars
This was such a cute little middle elementary/middle grade read. Star just wants a true friend. This book covers so much. From bullying, teen pregnancy, having an absent father, to even poverty. This book covers a large range of issues that our kids have to deal with in out time. I felt that this would be a great book for schools to use. This one is all over the place for what is going on. But, in a good way. It doesnt end on a happy tied up in a bow ending. But it does end on a hopeful note.
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"All opinions are 100% honest and my own."
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Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
Gr 4–6—Quirky Star Mackie, who lives in a trailer park and has blue hair, desperately wants to make some friends in her new town. She decides that starting a poetry club is the perfect vehicle. Unfortunately, there aren't many other 10-year-olds as enamored with Emily Dickinson as she is. The only other kids who will join her club are a couple of boys in detention and a brother/sister team. Star has many dreams—she longs to meet her father, hopes her beloved big sister, who is coping with an unexpected pregnancy, will be happy again, and wishes most of all for a true friend. Herrera's first novel is quite accomplished, with plenty of heart and humor, especially apparent in the spelling assignments Star has to complete but refuses to turn in, as she uses them as a sort of journal. Star is a unique, determined, and loving child making the best of a bad situation; readers cannot help but root for her.—B. Allison Gray, Goleta Public Library, CA
From Booklist
Star Mackie is a fifth-grader overflowing with hope—especially for friends. But that seems impossible at her new school since she is teased for living in a pink trailer and having strangely layered blue hair. Her goth sister, Winter—her closest ally—fuels Star’s hope of one day connecting with the father she has yet to meet. Taking a clue from Winter, Star starts a school club in order to make friends, and along the way she develops a fascination with Emily Dickinson’s poetry and declares that to be the club’s focus. Star does everything she can to make the club work, and, little by little, a small misfit group of students become regulars. When Star learns the shocking truth about her own family, Dickinson’s poetry helps her understand her crazy world and accept who she is. In her debut, Herrera has created a delightful narrator with a memorable voice and surrounded her with a unique supporting cast. Got fans of Joan Bauer in your neck of the woods? Send them this way. Grades 3-6. --Jeanne Fredriksen
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