Book Review: Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Date Read: May 30, 2014

Source: Purchased Ebook

Publication Date: October 1, 2008

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Genres: Children's fiction, contemporary

Summary (taken from Goodreads): And as streams of light fan out behind the darkened sun like the wings of a butterfly, I realize that I never saw real beauty until now.

At Moon Shadow, an isolated campground, thousands have gathered to catch a glimpse of a rare and extraordinary total eclipse of the sun. It's also were three lives are about to be changed forever:

Ally likes the simple things in life--labyrinths, star-gazing, and comet-hunting. Her home, the Moon Shadow campground, is a part of who she is, and she refuses to imagine it any other way.

Popular and gorgeous (everybody says so), Bree is a future homecoming queen for sure. Bree wears her beauty like a suit of armor. But what is she trying to hide?

Overweight and awkward, Jack is used to spending a lot of time alone. But when opportunity knocks, he finds himself in situations he never would have imagined and making friends in the most unexpected situations.

Told from three distinct voices and perspectives, Wendy Mass weaves an intricate and compelling story about strangers coming together, unlikely friendships, and finding one's place in the universe.

Review: This story caught me from the start. The writing style was great; what I liked best about the book was that it could be both funny and serious. The first few chapters were the most humorous, and it seemed to grow more serious as the characters began to develop.

I enjoyed the variety of characters, and how none of them were set up to be worse than another. I think this is important especially in children's fiction, and it was done very well. Bree was most popular at school and cared about her clothes more than anything else, while Ally could care less what she looked like. Despite their differences, and the differences between them and Jack - although he was a lot like Ally - the reader could care for and sympathize with them all equally. They also formed such a great friendship, which makes it difficult to think they had to separate again at the end.