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A review by maejorlybookish
Star-Crossed by Barbara Dee
5.0
This was just an adorable, positive read. And I want to hug it. High rating for extreme readability (and positive representation). Once I sat down to read a good chunk, I couldn't stop. Good pacing and writing made this easy to do.
Star-Crossed is a loose retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which, not-so-coincidentally, is the play that the 8th graders at Mattie's school are performing.
This book is special because it explores the idea of bisexuality, something significantly overlooked in youth fiction. Mattie slowly discovers that she has a crush on the play's leading lady, Gemma, who is a transplant from England. She is totally swoon-worthy and Mattie is having a hard time understanding why her feelings for Gemma are different than her feelings for any other regular female friend. This is especially confusing for her because she is just "recovering" from a crush on a boy classmate, and now she doesn't know where she stands.
The only thing that I thought was kind of weird was that the word "bisexual" and its variants never make their way onto the page. I think this is kind of reflective of how, today, we have so many more labels that people are identifying themselves with--bisexual, pansexual, sometimes no label at all--and it doesn't make sense for Mattie to pick just one.
Quickly: I was glad that Mattie had a supportive friend group, and a supportive older sister... but I really loved the brief defense provided by the drama director, Mr. Torres, when he shuts down the use of "gay" as a slur by one of his students. It was so satisfying to read about a teacher standing up for LBGTQ* people in that way. I have always tried to do the same in my own field of work by pointing out hateful language and not allowing it to happen. I hope that kids reading Star-Crossed who need this kind of defense are comforted and strengthened by this instance, and this book as a whole, really.
Star-Crossed is a loose retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, which, not-so-coincidentally, is the play that the 8th graders at Mattie's school are performing.
This book is special because it explores the idea of bisexuality, something significantly overlooked in youth fiction. Mattie slowly discovers that she has a crush on the play's leading lady, Gemma, who is a transplant from England. She is totally swoon-worthy and Mattie is having a hard time understanding why her feelings for Gemma are different than her feelings for any other regular female friend. This is especially confusing for her because she is just "recovering" from a crush on a boy classmate, and now she doesn't know where she stands.
The only thing that I thought was kind of weird was that the word "bisexual" and its variants never make their way onto the page. I think this is kind of reflective of how, today, we have so many more labels that people are identifying themselves with--bisexual, pansexual, sometimes no label at all--and it doesn't make sense for Mattie to pick just one.
Quickly: I was glad that Mattie had a supportive friend group, and a supportive older sister... but I really loved the brief defense provided by the drama director, Mr. Torres, when he shuts down the use of "gay" as a slur by one of his students. It was so satisfying to read about a teacher standing up for LBGTQ* people in that way. I have always tried to do the same in my own field of work by pointing out hateful language and not allowing it to happen. I hope that kids reading Star-Crossed who need this kind of defense are comforted and strengthened by this instance, and this book as a whole, really.