Every Soul a Star

Hook:

Bree: “It’s one of those perfect summer days, with no humidity to swell up my hair. I take a deep, happy breath of the clean air as we head into town. A good hair day is worth its weight in gold. When we’ve gone a few blocks, Melanie says, “I had one of them again last night, didn’t I?”

She’s talking about night terrors. They’re like nightmares, except she’s not dreaming at the time. It’s like some weird screaming state you can’t wake her out of. Then she doesn't remember much in the morning. Mom and Dad have done a lot of research on it but haven’t found a cure. The doctors say people usually outgrow it. It’s weird that a kid so relentlessly happy all the time screams in her sleep.

‘Yeah, around midnight. I found you in the corner of the living room and bought you back to bed.’

‘Thanks.’

I’d been finding Melanie in corners of our house since she was four. This is why whenever Claire and I have sleepovers, they’re always at her house. Claire has been my best friend since that time in second grade when her nanny forgot to pick her up after dance class and I found her crying into her tutu. But we both know that if one of us is going to make it as a model, it will be me. Claire isn’t very tall, and she has a crooked nose, which she is going to get fixed as a sweet sixteen present. She always forgets to us conditioner, and really, that's the most important part of washing your hair. She’s the most popular girl in our grade though, because she’s super rich and her mom used to be in horror movies before she met Claire’s dad and became respectable.” (Pages 25 & 24)

Ally: “Melanie comes to the door in Kenny’s red-white-and-blue pajamas that he got last Fourth of July as a gift from Ryan’s grandmother. I feel him tense up when he sees them on her, but he quickly recovers.

‘I’m Kenny, ‘he says. ‘And this is a box of bugs.’ He holds up the box and Bree jumps back. Melanie peers at it, curious.

‘Leave that outside,’ Bree commands. ‘Then come in before my parents see you.’

The girls go into the bathroom to change and I fill Kenny in on the plans. When they come back out, Bree’s hair is gleaming and she has makeup on. Except for when we’re in town, I almost never see people in makeup. She looks sort of glamorous, sort of fake, at the same time. It takes me a second to notice they’re wearing more of our clothes! It’s not that I mind sharing, it’s just one more thing of ours that Mom is taking away without asking.

Kenny is staring at Bree, and she winks. ‘Never seen a girl in makeup before?’

‘Ally doesn’t wear makeup.’ he says.

‘Well, Ally could stand to wear some.’ Turning to me she says, ‘Did you even brush you hair this morning?’

My hand instantly flies to my hair. I almost never think of brushing my hair.

‘You don't need to answer,’ Bree says, tossing me her hairbrush. ‘It’s obvious.’

I yank the brush through my hair, wincing as it hits knots. ‘Why should I brush it?’ I ask. ‘Who cares what my hair looks like?’

Mel and Kenny watch this exchange silently.

‘Everyone cares. You’re not a kid anymore. There are cute guys here!’

I stop brushing. ‘There are?’

‘That guy, the one I’ve seen you talking to a few times. Spiky blond hair? Preppy?’

She must mean Ryan. ‘What about him?’

‘Don't you want to look nice for him?’

‘Huh?’

She sighs and leans forward, like she’s about to address a child. ‘When a girl likes a boy, she wants to look nice for him. You know that, right?’

I flash back to the morning Ryan arrived. Clothes rumpled from sleeping in them, hair unbrushed, ring of purple popsicle around my mouth. I lay the brush on the floor. No wonder he doesn't think of me as a girl.” (Pages 162 & 163)

Jack: “I scramble of the bed and hurry to the door. I open it to find Ally standing there, looking all clean and refreshed. I wince as I realize what I must look like. I wish I’d taken a shower after the run. I hope I don't stink. She holds up a big white paper bag and says, ‘I’ve got sandwiches.’

I rub my eyes. “Sorry?’

‘For dinner tonight. I figured we’d go up early. We need to make sure we can find the right star as soon as it’s out.’

I slept right through lunch! It’s not like me to miss a meal. Those sandwiches smell good. Don't you have to give one of your talks tonight?’

She shakes her head. ‘My mom’s going to do it. She feels so guilty about making us move that right now I can probably ask for a pony and she’d give it to me.’

‘You want a pony?’

‘No. But don’t all girls want ponies?’

‘I have no idea.’

‘See, that’s my problem.’

‘What is?’ I know I just woke up, but I’m having a hard time following her.

‘Being a girl.’

‘You seem to be doing a good job as far as I can see.’

She shakes her head again. ‘No. I don't think I am.’

We each sit down on a bed.

‘I’m going to ask Bree if she’ll help me.’

‘I’m a little scared of her.’ I admit.

‘Me too,’Ally says, then laughs. ‘Maybe it’s because she’s so beautiful. Don’t you think she’s the most beautiful girl you’ve ever seen?’

I shake my head. ‘I’ve seen prettier.’

‘You have not.’

‘I have.’ It takes all my courage to look up.

‘Oh.’ She says, and blushes furiously.

And then because I can’t believe I said that, I blurt out something even more embarrassing. ‘When I was ten months old I was in a Pampers commercial for plus-sized diapers.’

‘You were?’

I nod, mortified, yet unable to stop talking. ‘It was SD1’s fault. That’s Step Dad Number One,’ I quickly explain. ‘I don’t remember him at all. But he knew someone was looking for babies of a certain size. There was me and twenty other fat babies crawling around a park- on the jungle gyms, the seesaws, the sandbox, the swings, all in our non-leaking, move-with-our-bodies, plus-sized Pampers. That commercial aired for six years. If I manage to get into college, it will be paid for.’” (Pages 243-245)

Recommendation:

Have you ever thought your life would never be the same again? Were you forced to move, or maybe you have a new sibling? Ally, Bree, and Jack never asked for their lives to change, but it all just happened. Ally likes the simple things in life-stargazing, labyrinths, and comet hunting. Her home, the Moon Shadow, is a part of her, unless it is taken from her heart. Bree is a pretty, popular, and a future prom princess. She wears her beauty like a shining suit of armor. Jack is overweight and awkward, but when he has a chance to skip summer school, he finds himself in an unusual situation. All three characters have their own problems, their own dreams. Will they put down their differences to help each other out?

Title: Every Soul a Star

Author: Wendy Mass

Genre: Realistic-fiction

Blog by: Michelle D.