The Trouble with Shooting Stars

May 15, 2019
A 12-year-old with severe facial burns hides from the world--until she meets the new neighbors, who fly a magic zeppelin and babysit infant stars. The accident that burned Luna and left her father unable to walk sapped all joy from her life. A compression mask covering half her face is both uncomfortable and weird looking. With Luna's arm injuries, even drawing brings pain. Her large Italian American family loves her, but their disgusted pity at her facial difference only enhances her panic and shame. Late one night, Luna spies new people moving into the house next door. When Luna follows these new kids into the woods behind her Staten Island home, she discovers them caring for baby stars, and Alessandro and Chiara bring Luna into their world. During the day, narrator Luna is a terrified girl with an overprotective mother, unwilling to speak even with her best friend. But by night, she's one of the spazzatrici, polishing the sky. Readers familiar with disability tropes will anticipate Luna's choice: Will she use a star's magic to wish herself uninjured, or will she learn that the true magic was inside her all along? While Luna's journey attempts to avoid the shopworn magical-cure trope, it does not wholly succeed; her happy ending requires discovering not just inner, but also outer beauty. The primary cast is an all-white one. Sweet and heartwarming--but unsettlingly conflicted. (Fantasy. 8-11)

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August 1, 2019

Gr 4 Up-After a car accident, 12-year-old Luna struggles to come to terms with the mask she wears while her facial injuries heal. Though she doesn't feel up to hanging out with her friends or spending time in public, she does enjoy drawing things she sees through her binoculars in her neighborhood. This is how she first notices the Sapienti siblings, her new neighbors who secretly watch over infant stars. As Luna gets to know the Sapientis, she enters a world of magic, adventure, and history. This is an elegant, beautifully written story that pairs well with the work of Madeleine L'Engle and Kelly Barnhill. Luna's struggles in the aftermath of a traumatic accident are vivid, and the comfort and healing she draws from friendship and community are well represented. However, Luna's desire to change her face to something more traditionally beautiful is never challenged, which is at odds with the book's message of resilience and self-love. VERDICT Luna's journey to self-acceptance follows a formulaic path that some readers may find overly predictable, and the entirely white, upper-middle-class cast limits the book's perspective. An additional purchase.-Madison Bishop, Plymouth Public Library, MA

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