From the award-winning author of The Boy at the Back of the Class comes a middle grade novel about the power of hope to sustain even when tragedy strikes. Ten-year-old Aniyah and her little brother Noah find themselves living in foster care after the sudden disappearance of their mum. With her life in disarray, Aniyah knows just one thing for sure: her mum isn't gone forever. Aniyah believes that the people with the brightest hearts never truly disappear. They become stars. When scientists discover a new star acting strangely, Aniyah knows it's really her mum. To make sure everyone else knows, too, she embarks on the adventure of a lifetime--one that involves breaking into the Royal Observatory of London, and meeting the biggest star in Hollywood. This is an honest yet empathetic exploration of how people respond to difficult circumstances, told through the innocent voice of a ten-year-old girl.
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In short, this novel is simple yet touching story which follows four young protagonists as they try and get to Royal Observatory in London to name a star.
Onjali Q. Raúf is like the Jodi Picoult of the kids' world. She does an incredible job of tackling tricky issues in a way that kids can easily access. In this book, she looks at the impact of domestic violence and children being put into the foster system. At the end of the novel, an author's note tells the reader about Raúf's personal experience with this: she had an aunt who was killed by her husband. As a result, Raúf has set up a women's rights organisation called Making Herstory. And wrote this book, obviously.
If I'm totally honest, I didn't enjoy this quite as much as The Boy at the Back of the Class. Despite the different context, the plot seemed fairly similar, with a young girl travelling into London with a group of friends to try and talk to ‘people in charge'.
I also feel like things wrap up just a bit too neatly in her books. I understand that they're for children, but the fact that the people in charge always give the main character exactly what they want seems like it's going to give kids an unrealistic view of the way the world works.
Despite this, I enjoyed the book and will definitely take to school as I think my class will love it. 3.75/5
