From Goodreads,"A boy tries to steer a safe path through the projects in Harlem in the wake of his brother’s death in this outstanding debut novel that celebrates community and creativity.
It’s Christmas Eve in Harlem, but twelve-year-old Lolly Rachpaul and his mom aren’t celebrating. They’re still reeling from his older brother’s death in a gang-related shooting just a few months earlier. Then Lolly’s mother’s girlfriend brings him a gift that will change everything: two enormous bags filled with Legos. Lolly’s always loved Legos, and he prides himself on following the kit instructions exactly. Now, faced with a pile of building blocks and no instructions, Lolly must find his own way forward.
His path isn’t clear—and the pressure to join a “crew,” as his brother did, is always there. When Lolly and his friend are beaten up and robbed, joining a crew almost seems like the safe choice. But building a fantastical Lego city at the community center provides Lolly with an escape—and an unexpected bridge back to the world.
David Barclay Moore paints a powerful portrait of a boy teetering on the edge—of adolescence, of grief, of violence—and shows how Lolly’s inventive spirit helps him build a life with firm foundations and open doors."
Goodreads - The Stars Beneath Our Feet
Awards and Nominations:
- John Steptoe New Talent Award (2018)
- Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award (2018)
Favorite quote from The Stars Beneath Our Feet,
The Stars Beneath Our Feet starts with a young boy named Lolly who is trying to come to terms with the fact that his older brother Jermaine is dead. The streets of Harlem finally got to his older brother and it cost him his life. Lolly is trying to figure out how to live with the fact that Jermaine is dead, and that they had a big fight before he was killed. Lolly's mom's girlfriend keeps bringing Lolly trash bags full of Legos. He works to create a masterpiece that will hopefully help piece his life back together.
Partway through the book Lolly makes a new friend named Rose. Rose is dealing with things just like Lolly is. They end up building Lego cities together in the same room, and eventually they interact with each other. We didn't really learn a lot about Rose, but there were noticeable markers that made me say, "Yup. She is on the autism spectrum." Of course Rose told Lolly she wasn't. Eventually Rose had to move to a different home because she tested on the spectrum. I absolutely loved that this girl was included in the book and that she had made leaps and strides to overcome her social anxiety and had learned to read people's emotions and body language. But along with her making all this progress, she had to leave her home because she wasn't getting the care she needed. I really liked that an adult in the book reported her case because she was being neglected. I feel like so many times adults make excuses for other adult's actions. I hear it all the time that they are doing the best they can and they are trying. That is great that they are doing the best they can and that they are trying, but is the child suffering because of it? Is the child getting the care they need and deserve? As an educator, I have to think of the child and their needs first. I think it was great that the person that called in Rose's situation did it because it needed to be done. She wasn't getting the help she needed. It isn't easy to make that call, but sometimes it has to be done.
There are so many things about this book that I did not like, but I'm going to focus on the one big thing that drove me crazy...the grammar. The grammar was absolutely atrocious in this book. The author's note at the end explained that it was written that way because that is how they talk in Harlem. That there are so many different vernaculars it is hard to tell one from the other just blocks apart from each other. While I was reading this book I actually mentioned to my boyfriend how difficult it was for me to read because I wasn't used to this vernacular. I told him that when I was in junior high we read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and I failed so many tests over that book because their vernacular was so foreign to me. About halfway into the book I somewhat settled into their language, but it was still a hard read for me to get through grammatically.
This book had a lot to be desired. I'm not sure how it won two awards. I felt like the storyline of Jermaine being shot was kind of lost. It was mentioned here and there throughout the book, but it wasn't really a big pivotal piece of the book. I give this 2 out of 5 stars. I don't know that I would recommend this book to anyone. I don't think it is interesting enough for young adults, but I think it is too boring for adults.
"Rosamund, when you die, they bury you, but your soul flies to the stars. Your mama, your daddy - they were buried under the ground, but they're stars now, girl, stars beneath our feet."The title of a book is one of the most important parts of a book in my opinion. The title has to be strong enough to catch the attention of the reader, but also strong enough to carry the entire meaning and soul of the book. Most books have the title of the book somewhere in the book itself. I always look for the title while I'm reading. Interestingly enough, the title of this book happened to be found in my favorite quote from this book.
The Stars Beneath Our Feet starts with a young boy named Lolly who is trying to come to terms with the fact that his older brother Jermaine is dead. The streets of Harlem finally got to his older brother and it cost him his life. Lolly is trying to figure out how to live with the fact that Jermaine is dead, and that they had a big fight before he was killed. Lolly's mom's girlfriend keeps bringing Lolly trash bags full of Legos. He works to create a masterpiece that will hopefully help piece his life back together.
Partway through the book Lolly makes a new friend named Rose. Rose is dealing with things just like Lolly is. They end up building Lego cities together in the same room, and eventually they interact with each other. We didn't really learn a lot about Rose, but there were noticeable markers that made me say, "Yup. She is on the autism spectrum." Of course Rose told Lolly she wasn't. Eventually Rose had to move to a different home because she tested on the spectrum. I absolutely loved that this girl was included in the book and that she had made leaps and strides to overcome her social anxiety and had learned to read people's emotions and body language. But along with her making all this progress, she had to leave her home because she wasn't getting the care she needed. I really liked that an adult in the book reported her case because she was being neglected. I feel like so many times adults make excuses for other adult's actions. I hear it all the time that they are doing the best they can and they are trying. That is great that they are doing the best they can and that they are trying, but is the child suffering because of it? Is the child getting the care they need and deserve? As an educator, I have to think of the child and their needs first. I think it was great that the person that called in Rose's situation did it because it needed to be done. She wasn't getting the help she needed. It isn't easy to make that call, but sometimes it has to be done.
There are so many things about this book that I did not like, but I'm going to focus on the one big thing that drove me crazy...the grammar. The grammar was absolutely atrocious in this book. The author's note at the end explained that it was written that way because that is how they talk in Harlem. That there are so many different vernaculars it is hard to tell one from the other just blocks apart from each other. While I was reading this book I actually mentioned to my boyfriend how difficult it was for me to read because I wasn't used to this vernacular. I told him that when I was in junior high we read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and I failed so many tests over that book because their vernacular was so foreign to me. About halfway into the book I somewhat settled into their language, but it was still a hard read for me to get through grammatically.
This book had a lot to be desired. I'm not sure how it won two awards. I felt like the storyline of Jermaine being shot was kind of lost. It was mentioned here and there throughout the book, but it wasn't really a big pivotal piece of the book. I give this 2 out of 5 stars. I don't know that I would recommend this book to anyone. I don't think it is interesting enough for young adults, but I think it is too boring for adults.
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