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A review by theforereffect
What Stars Are Made of by Sarah Allen
3.0
This is a hard book to rate because it's hard to dislike a book about an incredibly sweet and spunky girl with an incredibly supportive family, a super cool best friend, and an inspiring teacher. Add in so many SCIENCE FACTS and VOCABULARY LESSONS and I would feel like an awful person for giving this book less than 3 stars.
But the truth is, I didn't like this book all that much. I loved Libby and I liked the ending, I appreciated the lesson at the end, but getting there felt too neat. It was so overwhelmingly positive, so cloying and saccharine, that I feel that it undermined Libby's journey.
I don't have Turner Syndrome, but I seek out books with main characters with disabilities and differences written by authors with the lived experience, and this book obviously fits the bill. In terms of representation, I can't speak to the Turner Syndrome rep, but I can say as an ND person there were times this book felt ableist. There were triggering moments that made it a bit hard for me to want to continue, and not because the author was conquering Difficult Topics but because she wasn't.
This story is very, very positive. That's not a bad thing, especially for middle grade novels, but it felt like it was written to make people feel good. Not people with Turner Syndrome or other differences, but people without those differences. For those people to read this and go "Wow, now I know about Turner Syndrome! And Libby was so sweet and I cried at the end. I'm a good person for liking a fictional character with a genetic disorder! 5 stars!"
It smacks of that toxic positivity. It says that as long as you put your mind to something it doesn't matter if you are different, what matters is the work you put in and you are perfect the way you are.
And sure, that's a lovely sentiment, but it's overly simple. Even middle grade kids are starting to see that bullies don't stop bullying because you confront them, that contests aren't won just because you put a lot of work into them.
I am not saying a middle grade novel needs to include the injustices of reality, but I am saying it doesn't need to be glossed over and sugar coated and wrapped in a perfect bow. I don't think that helps young people living with these differences and I don't think that helps other young people empathize.
Spoiler Alert, but the ending is about how we are all made of the same stuff and how we should look inside ourselves to see what we are made of. I liked that, I did, but I felt like I had to trudge through a lot of sugar and fluff and empty calories to get there. By the end I felt like I knew some facts about Turners, but I didn't feel like I understood Libby.
Because Libby, as likable as she is, is shallow. She's a perfect girl (sans a chromosome, but still perfect) written by an adult and it shows.
I guess that's the problem for me. The only flaw Libby has, within herself and within her life, is Turner Syndrome WHICH IS NOT A FLAW. And of course the moral of the story is "Plot Twist! She was perfect all along!" and maybe that's new information for the target audience, but it shouldn't be.
Writing wise, this book was very repetitive and there really wasn't a lot of story there. I feel like the author tried to stretch a story about a girl who is doing a class project into however many pages and so ended up just repeating the same stuff over and over instead of giving the reader more beyond trivia to sink their teeth into.
Again, this is a middle grade novel, so some repetition and a simple plot is expected and preferable, but I have read middle grade novels that have floored me and this one is just meh.
Take away the Turner Syndrome rep and what do you have?
I am giving this book 3 stars because it's really just ok. A good book to give to a middle schooler, a good introduction to Turner Syndrome, a nice lesson to discuss, but nothing more. Nothing special. Nothing inspiring.
Dare I say this book was missing something?
But the truth is, I didn't like this book all that much. I loved Libby and I liked the ending, I appreciated the lesson at the end, but getting there felt too neat. It was so overwhelmingly positive, so cloying and saccharine, that I feel that it undermined Libby's journey.
I don't have Turner Syndrome, but I seek out books with main characters with disabilities and differences written by authors with the lived experience, and this book obviously fits the bill. In terms of representation, I can't speak to the Turner Syndrome rep, but I can say as an ND person there were times this book felt ableist. There were triggering moments that made it a bit hard for me to want to continue, and not because the author was conquering Difficult Topics but because she wasn't.
This story is very, very positive. That's not a bad thing, especially for middle grade novels, but it felt like it was written to make people feel good. Not people with Turner Syndrome or other differences, but people without those differences. For those people to read this and go "Wow, now I know about Turner Syndrome! And Libby was so sweet and I cried at the end. I'm a good person for liking a fictional character with a genetic disorder! 5 stars!"
It smacks of that toxic positivity. It says that as long as you put your mind to something it doesn't matter if you are different, what matters is the work you put in and you are perfect the way you are.
And sure, that's a lovely sentiment, but it's overly simple. Even middle grade kids are starting to see that bullies don't stop bullying because you confront them, that contests aren't won just because you put a lot of work into them.
I am not saying a middle grade novel needs to include the injustices of reality, but I am saying it doesn't need to be glossed over and sugar coated and wrapped in a perfect bow. I don't think that helps young people living with these differences and I don't think that helps other young people empathize.
Spoiler Alert, but the ending is about how we are all made of the same stuff and how we should look inside ourselves to see what we are made of. I liked that, I did, but I felt like I had to trudge through a lot of sugar and fluff and empty calories to get there. By the end I felt like I knew some facts about Turners, but I didn't feel like I understood Libby.
Because Libby, as likable as she is, is shallow. She's a perfect girl (sans a chromosome, but still perfect) written by an adult and it shows.
I guess that's the problem for me. The only flaw Libby has, within herself and within her life, is Turner Syndrome WHICH IS NOT A FLAW. And of course the moral of the story is "Plot Twist! She was perfect all along!" and maybe that's new information for the target audience, but it shouldn't be.
Writing wise, this book was very repetitive and there really wasn't a lot of story there. I feel like the author tried to stretch a story about a girl who is doing a class project into however many pages and so ended up just repeating the same stuff over and over instead of giving the reader more beyond trivia to sink their teeth into.
Again, this is a middle grade novel, so some repetition and a simple plot is expected and preferable, but I have read middle grade novels that have floored me and this one is just meh.
Take away the Turner Syndrome rep and what do you have?
I am giving this book 3 stars because it's really just ok. A good book to give to a middle schooler, a good introduction to Turner Syndrome, a nice lesson to discuss, but nothing more. Nothing special. Nothing inspiring.
Dare I say this book was missing something?