The Same Stuff As Stars

Starred review from April 26, 2004
An 11-year-old girl looks out for her younger brother after their mother leaves them with their paternal great-grandmother. "The heroine's blossoming friendship with a mysterious 'star man,' combined with her intelligence and abiding trust in the direst of situations, will persuade readers that she will rise above her circumstances," according to PW
's Best Books citation. Ages 8-12.

Starred review from June 24, 2002
Few authors explore the theme of what defines a family with more compassion and sensitivity than Paterson (The Great Gilly Hopkins; Flip-Flop Girl), as she demonstrates once again in this contemporary novel set in rural Vermont. Eleven-year-old Angel Morgan, despite her youth, is the head of her family. With a father in jail for robbery and murder, and Verna, her mother, too preoccupied with herself to care for anyone else (she once "forgot" her children in an all-night diner), Angel looks out for her seven-year-old brother. She keeps a house key around her neck and taxi money in her sock, "just in case." Before long, Verna proves Angel's fears well founded, when she drops the children off at their great-grandmother's house and leaves in the night. Paterson enters Angel's consciousness through a third-person narrative, revealing, for example, how the girl rationalizes Verna's erratic behavior ("How could anyone expect her to know about being a good mother? She couldn't remember having a mother of her own") as well as the way Grandma's (as they call her) ramshackle house transforms into a welcoming haven with a nearby library and a pasture with a view of the night sky. At the novel's center is Angel's blossoming friendship with a mysterious "star man" whom Grandma calls "Santy Claus." He leaves food and chopped wood at the door, and introduces the heroine to galaxies beyond their own. Angel's intelligence and abiding trust in the direst of situations will convince readers that, despite the unresolved ending, she will rise above her circumstances. Ages 10-13.

Starred review from September 15, 2002
Gr. 5-7. Like Paterson's unforgettable Gilly Hopkins, Angel Morgan, 11, is an abandoned child, desperate for a home. Angel's dad is in prison, and her alcoholic mom dumps Angel and her seven-year-old brother, Bernie, in a rough house in rural Vermont with their dad's grandmother, whom the kids have never met. Is it any better than all the foster homes they have known? At least they are together. Unlike Gilly, Angel acts as a mom, not only for pesky Bernie but also for the adults who fail the children, including her mother ("Mom, fasten your seatbelt") and her needy, illiterate, housebound great-grandmother. But it is the mysterious man who lives in the broken-down trailer in the junk-filled backyard who shows Angel the stars through his telescope and helps her find her own "star-stuff." True to the child's desperate, bewildered viewpoint, Paterson's plain, beautiful words root the wonder of astronomy in the gritty details of daily survival on a dead-end road--managing it with laughter as well as tears. The intensely focused story of harsh family secrets across generations evokes timeless tales, from "Hansel and Gretel" to " The Secret Garden." Who's the witch? Where's the treasure?(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)

Starred review from August 1, 2002
Gr 6 Up-Dark and discomfiting, this third volume in the series features Daja, the young smith-mage, without her foster siblings. She makes a winter visit to Kugisko with her teacher Frostpine, and while there discovers that the twin daughters of their hosts possess magic-Jory for cooking and Nia with carpentry-and becomes embroiled in an arson investigation. The city's main volunteer firefighter is Bennat Ladradun, who lost his own family in a fire, and, as he and Daja become friends, she makes him a pair of living metal gloves that can withstand flames to aid him in his rescues. As the fires become more numerous and more deadly, suspicions rise when traces of Daja's magic are found at one site, and she must face the possibility that Ben has betrayed her friendship and her magic. With each volume, the gratuitous violence and number of unnecessary deaths have increased, but the development of the characters has not. Pierce also falls short in plot development. Readers find out long before Daja that Ben is the arsonist and is seriously, psychologically disturbed, which lowers the suspense factor of the story. Add in descriptions of fires where children die, and the book becomes very depressing, indeed. Purchase this for collections where the first two books are in demand, but be prepared for disappointed readers.-Lisa Prolman, Greenfield Public Library, MA

Copyright 2002 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2003
Eleven-year-old Angel's mom, Verna, leaves most of the mothering up to Angel. When Verna dumps Angel and her little brother at their great-grandmother's farm, she leaves them with an old woman who is ill-equipped, both physically and emotionally, to care for anyone, even herself. So, once again, Angel becomes the responsible one. Though the supporting players are predictable, Angel is an ultimately triumphant character.

(Copyright 2003 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)