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See the Best Books of 2018 So Far
Looking for something great to read? Browse our editors' picks for the best books of the year so far in fiction, nonfiction, mysteries, children's books, and much more.
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Sharon M. Draper is a New York Times bestselling author and recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring her significant and lasting contribution to writing for teens. She has received the Coretta Scott King Award for both Copper Sun and Forged by Fire, and was most recently awarded the Charlotte Huck Award for Stella by Starlight. Her Out of My Mind has won multiple awards and was a New York Times bestseller for over three years. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she taught high school English for twenty-five years and was named National Teacher of the Year. Visit her at SharonDraper.com.
Nine robed figures dressed all in white. Heads covered with softly pointed hoods. Against the black of night, a single wooden cross blazed. Reflections of peppery-red flames shimmered across the otherwise dark surface of Kilkenny Pond.
Two children, crouched behind the low-hanging branches of a hulking oak tree on the other side of the pond, watched the flickers of scarlet in the distance in fearful silence. Dressed only in nightshirts, Stella Mills and her brother Jojo shivered in the midnight October chill.
Stella yanked the boy close, dry leaves crunching beneath his bare feet. “Shh!” she whispered, holding him tightly. “Don’t move!”
Jojo squirmed out of her grasp. “It was me that saw ’em first!” he protested. “You’d still be ’sleep if I hadn’t come and got you. So lemme see!”
Stella covered her brother’s lips with her fingers to quiet him. Even though her toes were numb with cold and she knew they needed to get out of there, she could not take her eyes from the horror glimmering toward them from across the pond. “Do you know what would happen if they saw us?” she whispered, shifting her stinging feet, the crushing of dry leaves seeming far too loud.
Jojo pressed himself closer to her in answer.
Besides the traitorous leaves, Stella could hear a pair of bullfrogs ba-rupping to each other, but nothing, not a single human voice, from across the pond. She could, however, smell the charring pine, tinged with . . . what? She sniffed deeper—it was acrid, harsh. Kerosene. A trail of gray smoke snaked up to the sky, merging with the clouds.
“Who are they?” Jojo whispered, stealing another glance.
“The Klan.” Just saying those words made Stella’s lips quiver.
The Ku Klux Klan.
Here.
Here!
“What are they doing?”
“Practicing, I think.”
“For what?”
Stella paused and smoothed his bushy hair, trying to figure out the best way to answer. Jojo was only eight.
“Nothing good,” she said at last.
A horse whinnied in the distance—it sounded nervous. And there, in the shadows of the trees across the pond, Stella could make out half a dozen of them. The flames must be scaring them, too, she thought. The horses began to stamp and snort as the fire flared.
Stella inched forward, trying to get a better look. One of the harnesses seemed to sparkle in the darkness. Or was it just a stray ember from the flames? The men in the white hoods were now all raising their arms to the sky, and they cried out as one, but their exact words were muffled by cloth and wind.
“Jojo, we’ve gotta get out of here!” she whispered, now edging backward.
“Should we tell Mama and Papa?” Jojo asked.
Stella did not answer her brother. Instead she caught his hand in her tightest grip and ran.
This book is intended for younger readers and is on the competitive reading bowl list for my granddaughters (4th & 5th grade). It touched in so many areas: the depression, race relations, voting rights. A good read for upper elementary school kids (and a good read for me!)
Love love love. History and fun, well written. My 11 year old read this book and loved it. It was a good spring read. It has great imagery and one can picture the time and place. Very nice 5 th grade read.
I'm a 30 + year old reader, and I enjoyed this well-written, inspiring book. This is the type of book that every middle-school child should read, teaching young minds the privilege all Americans have to vote and why we must educate ourselves to vote responsibility. Great story!
Such a fantastic read! Obviously it was below my reading level (it's "middle grade") which made it a super quick read. I can't wait to read this with my two oldest nieces (the ones who can read).
I didn't have actual tears rolling down my cheeks while I read (like I did with T.H.U.G) but I came pretty close. It definitely hits you in the feels
This book is incredibly realistic and made me feel like I was there. Sharon Draper is a wonderful author who tells a poignant story of family, community, and personal growth amid an atmosphere of great danger! I love this book!!
I like this book. It's like learning history through the eyes of a child. On thing I also feel that despite the hardship and discrimination in the past, family structure, support, and bonding seemed much stronger than today. Friends were more real and sincere.
Stella by Starlight is a wonderful Young Adult Book that provides wonderful insight into life in the South. I bonded with the characters and found myself not wanting to put the book down. This is historical fiction at its finest: a great mix of story and education. It depicts life in a time period that seems often forgotten in history.
There was not one thing I disliked about this book! The characters were adorable and interesting and the storyline was engaging! There was historical information, however, it didn't feel boring or overused. I hope that the author makes a sequel to this amazing book!
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