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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
Charming, sweet, and empowering. The characters and their middle-school dramas feel true-to-life while cleverly echoing, and gently skewing, elements of Romeo and Juliet. Mattie's confusion about her crush is explored with lightness and warmth. Friendship and self-acceptance are primary themes, with all characters learning to embrace open-mindedness toward themselves and one another.
Totally age-appropriate story about acceptance and becoming.
Totally age-appropriate story about acceptance and becoming.
4.8/5 stars, full review to come! This book makes my heart sing.
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Enjoyment: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Enjoyment: 5/5
I loved it and wish I'd had it when I was in eighth grade.
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
An extremely cute middle-grade novel about navigating feelings, crushes, friendships, and juggling your school play. I loved Mattie and related to her, and the cast of characters reflected the myriad of personalities you can find yourself surrounded by in your school days. Gemma was a very sweet crush-interest, I loved her attitude and the way she and Mattie balanced each other. Light and easy, a great read for the younger crowd!
The first time I read this book, I was in second grade. I was an avid reader, and I checked out about six books a week from the library. I mostly read American Girl Doll books and the Dork Diaries, but something about Star-Crossed appealed to me, so I picked it up. I tore through it quickly, and I loved every bit of it. I had heard of Romeo and Juliet, of Shakespeare, but I didn't really know what they were. This book broke it down, helped me understand. And the romance! I had read a million and one stories about girls with crushes on boys and boys with crushes on girls, but never where a girl had a crush on a girl. I knew that some kids had two moms, and others had two dads, but it never quite occurred to me that it was an option for kids. I love this book. The friendships, the characters, the story, the voice- it all felt real. My nerdy, bookworm, eight-year-old self loved how the main character liked books and reading, and through this book I developed my life-long obsession with Shakespeare. I'm (re)reading Romeo and Juliet right now and decided to pick this up (a though I will admit I read it at least once a year) and I was struck by how excellently it breaks down the plot in a navigable way. If I had to pick a favorite book, Star-Crossed would definitely be on the shortlist. Thank you, Barbara Dee, for this remarkable story.
Shakespeare, Star Wars, smart girls...AND an on-the-page mention of bisexuality in a middle grade book? (Seriously...the word! On the page!). What more could you want? It's still light-hearted and funny while interrogating issues of sexuality, friendship, and loyalty that many a middle schooler has likely faced, but probably hasn't had an outlet for. This totally threw me back to my own eighth-grade play experience, the particular magic and madness of an eighth-grade crush, and the unique power of friendship and love in that age.
Eighth-grader Mattie is dealing with the typical issues that so many of us face as 13 year olds: crushes, parties, and defending your love of William Shakespeare. Not everyone loves Shakespeare? Well, in this book, Mattie's English class gets deep into the story of Romeo and Juliet. So much so that it is easy to draw the parallels in the events happening to Mattie and her friends. Turf wars at the fro-yo shop, secret identities, and sword fights punctuate the major plot twist in Mattie's story: does she have a crush on another girl?
In a merry-go-round of young teens expressing their feelings to each other, I was pleased to see the representation of flexible sexuality developing for the main character. The support she recieves from her family and friends for her feelings for Elijah and then Gemma, are heart-warming. The major theme of being true to yourself comes through more strongly than any other message.
I do believe that middle-school aged readers will appreciate this novel for so many reasons, but the ending left a little to be desired in my opinion. In my personal preference as far as happy endings, I wanted more closure from this book. HOWEVER, I understand considering the age group and genre of this story, that it had an appropriate ending.
In a merry-go-round of young teens expressing their feelings to each other, I was pleased to see the representation of flexible sexuality developing for the main character. The support she recieves from her family and friends for her feelings for Elijah and then Gemma, are heart-warming. The major theme of being true to yourself comes through more strongly than any other message.
I do believe that middle-school aged readers will appreciate this novel for so many reasons, but the ending left a little to be desired in my opinion. In my personal preference as far as happy endings, I wanted more closure from this book. HOWEVER, I understand considering the age group and genre of this story, that it had an appropriate ending.
I've never read a book with such young characters dealing with their sexuality before, and that was a pleasant surprise. Mattie is just amazing, she's very easy to like and to identify with. She's nice and kind, just your regular teenage girl, and there's nothing wrong with that. Her friends were really great as well, I really liked them.
Gemma was just lovely! She's so dreamy and charming and amazing and cute. I really, really liked her, and I totally get why Mattie couldn't stop thinking about her.
The other characters were nice as well, except for those who just weren't. Elijah was a surprise, I thought I wouldn't like him, since I usually hate the guys the main characters apparently have a crush on, but he was okay. Mattie's siblings were pretty cool, especially Cara. The little ones were adorable with all the Star Wars games going on (I also loved all the references!).
I liked the plot so much. School plays are so cool. And I really liked the fact that Mattie got to play Romeo, it was just great!
But what I liked the most was her relationship with Gemma, it was just so cool and cute. And the ending was nice, even though I expected something else.
The whole story was absolutely easy to read and to like!
Gemma was just lovely! She's so dreamy and charming and amazing and cute. I really, really liked her, and I totally get why Mattie couldn't stop thinking about her.
The other characters were nice as well, except for those who just weren't. Elijah was a surprise, I thought I wouldn't like him, since I usually hate the guys the main characters apparently have a crush on, but he was okay. Mattie's siblings were pretty cool, especially Cara. The little ones were adorable with all the Star Wars games going on (I also loved all the references!).
I liked the plot so much. School plays are so cool. And I really liked the fact that Mattie got to play Romeo, it was just great!
But what I liked the most was her relationship with Gemma, it was just so cool and cute. And the ending was nice, even though I expected something else.
The whole story was absolutely easy to read and to like!
Mattie has a problem. It turns out her crush on a boy, Elijah, isn’t going very well because he seems more interested in video games than her. And she’s helping the star of her school’s production of Romeo and Juliet learn his lines and getting flack from some girl who has a crush on him— meanwhile, she’s becoming friends with Gemma, the smart, funny, beautiful and, most importantly, british girl who is playing Juliet. It’s causing her friends some grief when they think that she’s abandoning them for the popular crowd that seems to have claimed Gemma, but Mattie isn’t even sure if she just likes Gemma, or like likes Gemma.
This book successfully navigates the hierarchies of middle school, incorporating Shakespeare and keeping cool around your crush like a pro. Mattie’s relationship with her friends, her family and her blossoming friendship with Gemma all contributed to making this book memorable for me. While Gemma seemed cool, almost impossibly so, Mattie is grounded with quirks and a penchant for getting easily flustered. But Gemma’s charm also means she’s polite to the point of being railroaded when she doesn’t necessarily want to always go along with the cool crowd.
While I wanted more of a denouement at the end, I can honestly say this is one of the sweetest books I’ve ever read. I haven’t read any love stories about twelve-year-olds which I can compare this too, but if you find any queer middle-grade stories, please feel free to send them my way.
The book never really discusses labels, but Mattie tries to confront her feelings without destroying this new friendship she has. I was a little jealous that there wasn’t a book like this when I was younger, that didn’t present being ‘straight’ or ‘gay’ as an either/or situation, especially with supportive characters like Lucy, Cara and Mr. Torres. Otherwise there was the flash of familiarity. I know that the change from one crush to another could happen very suddenly, less often than in elementary school, at least when you remembered to have a crush on somebody, but in middle school, these things felt a little more series. Suddenly, your heart would actually beat faster and you’d be hyper aware even when you touched hands for a bare moment… And actually kissing that person? Well, I would have probably fainted.
This book is absolutely appropriate for young readers. The publisher says it’s aimed at kids 9-13, and the inclusion of uplifting stories that celebrate and validate young readers who might be having questions about their sexual orientation is extremely important. While the author is straight I felt she handled the romance, the feel of the crush, wonderfully. I was dismayed to discover that she’d actually been told to stop speaking about this book at one school. She wrote about this visit in a blog post you can read at the nerdy book club. The fear of parental blacklash, of the vitriol which has become common, made the teachers actually went so far as to apologize for the book to the students.
I’m so glad this book exists. I really wish I had had a book like Star-Crossed when I was growing up.
If you need a little bit of a pick me up, read about the background of this book and a brief blurb about the cover design here on nerdy book club.
This book successfully navigates the hierarchies of middle school, incorporating Shakespeare and keeping cool around your crush like a pro. Mattie’s relationship with her friends, her family and her blossoming friendship with Gemma all contributed to making this book memorable for me. While Gemma seemed cool, almost impossibly so, Mattie is grounded with quirks and a penchant for getting easily flustered. But Gemma’s charm also means she’s polite to the point of being railroaded when she doesn’t necessarily want to always go along with the cool crowd.
While I wanted more of a denouement at the end, I can honestly say this is one of the sweetest books I’ve ever read. I haven’t read any love stories about twelve-year-olds which I can compare this too, but if you find any queer middle-grade stories, please feel free to send them my way.
The book never really discusses labels, but Mattie tries to confront her feelings without destroying this new friendship she has. I was a little jealous that there wasn’t a book like this when I was younger, that didn’t present being ‘straight’ or ‘gay’ as an either/or situation, especially with supportive characters like Lucy, Cara and Mr. Torres. Otherwise there was the flash of familiarity. I know that the change from one crush to another could happen very suddenly, less often than in elementary school, at least when you remembered to have a crush on somebody, but in middle school, these things felt a little more series. Suddenly, your heart would actually beat faster and you’d be hyper aware even when you touched hands for a bare moment… And actually kissing that person? Well, I would have probably fainted.
This book is absolutely appropriate for young readers. The publisher says it’s aimed at kids 9-13, and the inclusion of uplifting stories that celebrate and validate young readers who might be having questions about their sexual orientation is extremely important. While the author is straight I felt she handled the romance, the feel of the crush, wonderfully. I was dismayed to discover that she’d actually been told to stop speaking about this book at one school. She wrote about this visit in a blog post you can read at the nerdy book club. The fear of parental blacklash, of the vitriol which has become common, made the teachers actually went so far as to apologize for the book to the students.
I’m so glad this book exists. I really wish I had had a book like Star-Crossed when I was growing up.
If you need a little bit of a pick me up, read about the background of this book and a brief blurb about the cover design here on nerdy book club.
Freaking adorable and wholesome. Characters were bright and unique in their own way! Loved how they handled Mattie's confusion and acceptance of her sexuality without any major negative tropes.