Take a photo of a barcode or cover
matokah 's review for:
Star-Crossed
by Barbara Dee
What an absolutely perfect book. This has got to be my favorite Middle Grade read in recent memory. The plot of a childhood crush and a budding awareness of attraction to a girl when it'd only been boys before was done with sensitivity and nuanced understanding.
Mattie is a likable character, as are her friends Tessa and Lucy. Gemma was adorable, and none of the characters felt forced or two-dimensional (I was a little clueless about why Willow kept excluding Mattie from her parties, as that didn't feel like it was explained very well). The story never dragged, and it never devolved into the stereotypical 'outing' story. There's a question of how Mattie's parents might have reacted to her liking Gemma, but it never really came up because the pair's relationship was left with a bit of a cliffhanger (a hopeful one though).
There are a lot of reasons this could have fallen flat or even come off as insensitive. I love that there was no out of the blue revelation that Gemma was gay, or even that Mattie knew how to identify at her age since she was just starting to explore this part of herself. In that way, the ending was perfect.
I want more stories like this. If anyone has any to recommend (MG or YA), please hit me up in the comments. This left me with such a warm fuzzy feeling after reading. More, please.
Mattie is a likable character, as are her friends Tessa and Lucy. Gemma was adorable, and none of the characters felt forced or two-dimensional (I was a little clueless about why Willow kept excluding Mattie from her parties, as that didn't feel like it was explained very well). The story never dragged, and it never devolved into the stereotypical 'outing' story. There's a question of how Mattie's parents might have reacted to her liking Gemma, but it never really came up because the pair's relationship was left with a bit of a cliffhanger (a hopeful one though).
There are a lot of reasons this could have fallen flat or even come off as insensitive. I love that there was no out of the blue revelation that Gemma was gay, or even that Mattie knew how to identify at her age since she was just starting to explore this part of herself. In that way, the ending was perfect.
I want more stories like this. If anyone has any to recommend (MG or YA), please hit me up in the comments. This left me with such a warm fuzzy feeling after reading. More, please.