As I made clear in class, I loved The Schwa was Here and felt "ehhhhh" about Every Soul a Star. I think it mostly came down to the personalities of each main character. I related to Antsy. I found him to be very funny, slightly self-conscious, selfish yet generous, non-judgmental, and, ultimately likable yet flawed. Ally was just so..... perfect. She reminded me of a girl from high school who used to smile to herself as she took tests in class. It made me feel like being violent! And also made me wonder, who is she?? I found Ally's personality to be unrealistic. That being said....
I hate to admit it but in middle school I think I would have loved this book. I used to be completely anxious about conflict and would make my mom stop reading Little House on the Prairie when I thought Pa might be mad at Laura. I used to fantasize about a book being written where there wouldn't be any overt drama. No one was at risk of getting in trouble, or hurt. So Every Soul a Star may not have appealed to my 25 year old sensibilities, but I just may have liked it when I was 12.
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OK you totally made me crack up with the Little House reference. Hilarious! I think you may be right about tweens liking this book more than us jaded YA librarians who love the smart-alecky doom-and-gloom and irreverant characters instead.
ReplyDeleteBut great point. I agree with you on all counts too about Antsy--I was immediately drawn to him as well. I loved his flaws, his family, his neighborhood...great book.