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Every Soul a Star

by Wendy Mass



      Ally, her brother, and their parents have lived at the Moon Shadow Campground since she was very young.  Now, at age  twelve, living in this remote area is part of who she is.  She knows all about the heavens: the stars, the galaxies and their relationships to each other.

She has been home schooled, and there is no television, no cell phone reception, no fast food.  Now, to her horror, her parents are going to move them all to the city so that they can attend public school.

Thirteen year old Bree is the leader of the A-clique in her school.  Beautiful, popular, and planning to be a model, Bree is very style conscious and self-assured.  She is devastated to learn that her parents plan to take over the Moon Shadow Campground, and that she will be actually living there.

Jack is also a thirteen-year old.  He's lonely, awkward and overweight.  He also failed Science and now must take summer school to catch up.  But, wait...his science teacher calls with an offer to be his assistant on a two week eclipse tour with 30 other people.  The best part of the offer is that if he does it, and then writes a paper about it, he will be able to skip summer school.  He's all over that.

These three teens, along with Ryan, a boy who has been coming to the campground for several years with his grandparents, spend the next two weeks preparing for the miracle of the total eclipse of the sun.  It's an exciting story that is hard to put down.  Emotions run high as each teenager tells their story in turn, and each one begins to see life from the others' points of view.

Wendy Mass is very good at characterization...the teens really come alive on the pages.  The plot is exciting and unique, and the suspense builds to a very satisfying climax.

I highly recommend this book as a good addition to the science curriculum, though learning about the heavens is secondary to the great story.

The Book

Little, Brown
October 1, 2008
Hardcover
0-316-00256-9 / 978-0-31-00256-1
Young Adult Fiction
More at Amazon.com
Excerpt
NOTE:

The Reviewer

Beverly J. Rowe
Reviewed 2008
NOTE:Reviewer Beverly J. Rowe is Myshelf.com's "Babes to Teens" columnist, covering topics related to reading ideas for the youth in the family.
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