However, what Draper depicts so masterfully is a striking commitment to goodness by the people faced with daunting adversity. The gravity of injustice and hatred demonstrated in the fictional town of Bumblebee is incomprehensible and the robbing of the innocence of childhood is deeply affecting. Much like the jazz standard of the same name, Stella by Starlight is a haunting and riveting. What proceeds is a series of events that test the fibers of an African American community woven together by their determination and dedication to their families and each other. All of this changes one unexpected night when eleven-year-old Stella Mills and her younger brother JoJo inadvertently, but unmistakably, witness a gathering of the Klan who have rallied once again to in part to discourage equal voting rights.

The Ku Klux Klan is dormant in the little town of Bumblebee, North Carolina, and though strong prejudice still exists, intimidation by the Klan has subsided. Draper, is a poignant novel that beautifully captures the depth and complexities within individuals, a community, and society in 1932, an era when segregation and poverty is at the forefront. Stella by Starlight, by esteemed storyteller Sharon M. What to Expect: Civil Rights, Ku Klux Klan, Family Relationships, Community Relationships, Bravery, Adversity, Great Depression, Historical Fiction, Segregation Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (January 2015) Gi Hallmark | The Children’s Book Review | February 5, 2014 Stella by Starlight

Stella by starlight book