Customer Reviews

The Same Stuff as Stars

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Without a doubt, my two favorite writers for young adults are Madeleine L'Engle and Katherine Paterson. Ms. Paterson has written a number of novels (Bridge to Terabithia, Jacob Have I Loved, Lyddie, etc.) that are among the best I've every read. This novel may not reach the heights of some of her previous books but it is still a worthwhile read.

I have probably shed more tears over Katherine Paterson novels than any other writer except, perhaps, Dickens. They both have an incredible ability to create realistic characters that you can really feel for as well as a deep perception for the effect that death and abandonment can have on people. As I began reading The Same Stuff As Stars I didn't think this novel would have the same effect but I must admit that it did. In the character of Angel, continually abandoned by everyone around her but still a strong girl, Paterson has done it again.

It is her ability to create these realistic characters, however, that also turned me off to this book. I found the characters of Verna and, in particular, Bernie to be so unpleasant that the first half of this novel was nearly unreadable for me. Once these two characters disappear from the novel, I liked the book to be much better.

But is it really fair to dislike a book because the characters are created too well? It's a personal assessment but a fair one, I think. But this book still has many things to recommend it, not the least of which is the astronomy motif which appeals to me very much as a math and physics teacher. Another personal assessment, perhaps, but it works both ways. Ultimately, this is a book that still rates better than just about anything out there. I would highly recommend it.

I thoroughly enjoyed Katherine Paterson's book Same Stuff as Stars because it is an excellent example of realistic fiction. The themes that are present in this book are common to many children in today's society. Imagine being motherless and fatherless and having to rely mainly on yourself for support. Angel is eleven years old in this story and is trying to take care of her younger brother. She is desperate for a real home, unlike her current situation of living with her poor-grandmother. A stranger who is able to explain the night skies is truly all she has to make a difference in her life. Will this stranger's wisdom be enough to eliminate her loneliness and overcome her tragic circumstances she faces each day?

I belive that this book was very well written. You know it's a good book when you laugh and then you cry. This book has a VERY good ending if you want to write a sequal. (Is there one already?) I think that is was exciting.

I felt as though I was with angel or even that i WAS angel. It was a book i will remember for years to come. When she laughed i laughed and when she cried i cried.

I thought this story was a very powerful story about Angel and her little brother, Bernie who goes through hard times. It's touching and shows how some kids have to live. It showed me how hard Angel and Bernie had it, Their Dad in Jail and their mother who was negligent. Does have some bad language, but I highly recommend it.

WoW!It was another day in the classroom when my teacher called us on the rug. He bought a few books and wanted to read the beginings. One of these books was this one. the begining was wonderful!. Little did i know, i was about to go on an adventure, a big exiting one in the City and the country. He gave me the book to read. This book is the most passionate book i have ever read. I was in tears it was so good! I will now look for more Kathrine Paterson books on Amazon.com!Amazon.com is the best!

~Stephanie, age 11

From the famed author of Bridge to Terabithia comes this heartbreakingly realistic tale of two siblings trapped in a nightmare of neglect. Angel and her little brother Bernie live with their mom, a high school dropout, in a ratty apartment. Their dad is in jail, and the two have been visiting him weekly for years. Their mother Vera has zero maternal instincts, frequently screaming at both of them, or worse, running off and leaving them when she becomes overwhelmed. One fateful day Vera hurriedly orders them to pack one suitcase each, and they set out in her aged truck to find the home of their paternal great-grandmother.

Vera quickly abandons the two to the old woman, who is poor and has health problems. Her run-down home lacks a TV or modern appliances, and the only food in the house is canned peaches and pork and beans, hardly the balanced nutrition that growing children (or the elderly) need. Angel frantically calls her father in jail, telling him that Vera has abandoned them, but he's in no position to help. Angel's existence is nearly unbearable as she is forced to be a mother for two (Bernie and her great-grandmother), responsible for the shopping, laundry, and cooking. Her only bright moments come at night, where she loses herself to the majesty of the stars and a mysterious stranger with a telescope who shares her celestial fascination.

What's truly heartbreaking is the myriad of excuses that Angel makes for her neglectful mother: Vera didn't *mean* to leave the two children at an all-night diner. She didn't *mean* to scream at Bernie and nearly leave him behind twice on the way to their new home. She's a good mom, Angel lies to herself, even though the children have been taken away numerous times by social services. The final insult is when Vera perpetrates a final outrage that endangers herself and her children.

Cynical young Bernie still sucks his thumb at seven, and instinctively knows that Vera's not coming back. Angel is a girl with far too much responsibility on her young shoulders, and has more common sense than both her no-good parents combined. More importantly, despite her grim beginnings, she has a real desire to learn and succeed. This is a novel that deals with incarceration, poverty, neglect, and substance abuse in an intelligent way, and Paterson handles these delicate themes with tenderness and heartbreaking depth of feeling.

The book I read was The Same Stuff as Stars by Katherine Patterson. This book is about a teenage girl named Angel Morgan. Her father is in jail, and her and her little brother Bernie Morgan live with there mother.

One day she takes them to there great-grandmothers run down farmhouse in Vermont. There grandmother lives alone and spends all her time rocking in a rocking chair by the fire. One night when there mother simply gets up and leaves they are left alone with a women they barley even know. With only a few cans of beans for food and one social security check a month they have to survive. One restless night Angel takes a midnight stroll and while gazing at the stars she meets a man who her grandmother refers to as "Santa Clause" who teaches her all about the stars, gives her the strength to keep going, and tells her that she should stick with Bernie and her grandmother because you can never replace family, and they are always the only thing you have.

The main lessons that this book gives is that you should always make the best out of a bad situation, don't judge a book by it's cover, and no matter what you can't replace family.

One thing I really enjoyed about this book was how realistic and detailed it was. You could feel everything that Angel felt, and it was like you were there. There was also that twinge of suspense that made you want to keep reading without going to over board. It was clear, and easy to follow.

One thing I didn't enjoy very much was it was a little slow paced it was.

I recommend this book to people who like realistic fiction that is funny, dramatic, and easy to understand. I give The Same Stuff as Stars four out of five stars.

Katherine Paterson has a kind of copyright out on dislikable-child-characters-you-unwittingly-come-to-care-for. She's also the greatest author writing today that actually takes time to acknowledges class differences in her children's literature. When I discovered that the creator of "The Great Gilly Hopkins" (the original dislikable child protagonist) was still cranking out the books well into this new millenium, I was stunned. I'm a mere slip of a twenty-seven-year-old girl and I grew up knowing this woman's books since the time I could lisp out the word "Terebithia". You'd have to be a child hermit not to recognize at least one of Paterson's books, but I was under the distinct impression that she's stopped writing sometime in the 1970s. Maybe the 80s. I mean, she had a great run but she was done now, right? Never discount children's authors. With her older books coming out in paperback all the time, "Bridge To Terebithia" selling its rights to Walden Media (the folks who brought you the movie versions of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" and "Holes"), and books like "Jacob Have I Loved" STILL being assigned to kids in school... well let's just say Ms. Paterson's not going anywhere anytime soon. She's too good at what she does.

Angel Morgan isn't even twelve but she's already a mother. Sort of. Angel's mom, Verna, is vying for the least-capable-parent award and that means that Angel is stuck taking care of her unhappy little brother Bernie all the time. Their dad's in jail, which isn't much fun, they hardly have any money and they've been moving from place to place more than Angel would like. Now they've moved one more time to live with their father's grandmother out into the middle of the country. This might not be so bad were it not for the fact that Great-grandma Morgan has proved time and again that she's an unfit parent and there's the additional fact that Verna's taken off in the middle of the night without either of her kids. It's up to Angel to now take care of both Bernie and Great-grandma Morgan while she loses herself in dreams and information about the stars above. Through her own strength and the friends she makes in town, Angel has the power to turn this family back around. She just has to find the words to do so.

Now let's get something clear here right from the start. If you have the kind of kid who only reads happy-dappy books like "The Penderwicks" or "The Saturdays", they are not going to like this book. Ditto those parents who gasp shudder and faint whenever their child starts to read something half-way depressing. Some kids, on the other hand, love books with bite. They like realism, a quality that "The Same Stuff As Stars" has in spades. If Paterson has one talent, it's that she doesn't talk down to her child readers. She's under the impression that they are mature enough to deal with a world in which not every household is a two-parenter and not every parent is wise, knowing, and reads the newspaper every day. To put it mildly.

Now, the book ends with a kind of odd conclusion. I was expecting something on par with the ending of "The Great Gilly Hopkins". You know. A good right hook to the stomach, so to speak. Instead, (and here I am going to warn you that I'm about to give away the ending so SPOILER ALERT UNTIL THE END OF THIS PARAGRAPH) Angel reunites with her mother and little brother and they all go back to live with Great-grandma. Angel tells her mother that she refuses to be the responsible one and all is good and right with the world la la la. Kids reading this book and hoping for a scene where Angel chews out her irresponsible parent for child endangerment are out of luck. Verna hardly even apologizes, let alone has the capability of doing what Angel asks of her. Yet we are supposed to believe that this is the lesson Angel's learned after everything? I thought the whole book was about Angel learning that she's stronger than she thinks and needs to educate herself so that she can fulfill her dreams. In a way, if she's hoping Verna takes care of Great-grandma and Bernie, thereby leaving Angel to get the heck away, that makes sense. I dunno. In any case, you'll have plenty to talk about after reaching this book's conclusion. I know I do.

I loved that Paterson gave props to two great children's books out there that really don't get enough attention. One was Harry Allard's, "The Stupids", which Bernie loves more than any other book. The other is "Starry Messenger" by Peter Sis, which is described in the book particularly well. Librarians get a lot of props in this book. Can't say as I object to THAT! The book also drills home a fact that I think a lot of kids are learning today. This is the story, at heart, of a poor family destroyed by a war. Though it takes place today, two of the patriarchs of the family went to Vietnam years ago and came back horribly damaged. One killed himself and the other was addicted to drugs. There is still hope, however. With Angel you feel some hope that maybe she'll help turn their bad luck around. Bernie, for his part, could go either way.

The book reminded me of other bad mother books out there. Poor moms. Sometimes it seems as if they're either dead or evil in children's books. In any case, fans of this title should definitely seek out the marvelous (and, to my mind, slightly better) "Becoming Naomi Leon" by Pam Munoz Ryan. Definitely give this book to the child that likes realistic fiction. It takes guts to read a book like this, and probably even more to write it. Not fun, but strong.

The Same Stuff As Stars by: Katherine Paterson

Angel has to raise her brother Bernie when their mother dumps them at their helpless grandmother's house. Ehile their father is in jail and their mother is gone with her boyfriend, they both must learn to get along with their grandmother, and themselves while Angel takes all adult responsibilities. But some one has distracted her. On all clear nights the "Star Man" comes out and teaches her about the stars and constellations. All of a sudden he stops coming. There is no "star Man" help her forget the stress of school and every day life. All of Angel's life people have let hewr down and she has always been optimistic. Angel will uncover some of her past.

I could really empathsize with Angel. The author made her life very realistic and I could believe that I am in the story, almost as though I am Angel. YOu might laugh or cry, but i would read it again and highly reccomend it.

The Same Stuff as Stars is a realistic story of a child, Angel, struggling to keep her family together and find love for her lonely heart. In this struggle, Angel faces some of the most difficult circumstances a child can face. Her father is in jail and has a failing relationship with his grandmother and Angel's mother. Angel has to be the parent for her younger, defiant brother (the book starts with him starting a fire in the living room). Her mother is abusive and selfish. Angel and her brother have been shuffled around, including in foster homes, and end up at their great-granmother's. Angel, despite these circumstances, is committed to keeping her family together and stays true to the people that give her love...and even her mother.

Newbery Medal winning author, Katherine Paterson, does a wonderful job of writing a simple story about such complex issues. The various family member characters and their struggles are developed, so the family background that lead to Angel's life is revealed for the reader. As Angel works through the hardships your feelings are with her, hoping for the best as she does. The issues presented in the book help the reader understand the complexities of families, and what is seen on the outside does not always clue us in to what may be happening in a person's life. Paterson works in unforeseen events in the book that make you feel for Angel but also curious as to what the outcome will be. The characters do not always make the best decisions with the events, but even still a lesson emerges from each incident. The main lesson taught is to reach out to others. The characters that reach out to Angel give her love, someone to depend on, and hope. They teach the reader to also reach out to others. Among the sadness of this child's life are glimses of hope and love. The book ends with a glimmer of hope, making it true to life. Angel is not sure of the future, which is how life is, but with hope and love from others, life is much easier to handle.