every soul a star By: Wendy Mass

            Dear Wendy Mass,

            Your book, every soul a star, really inspired me. The message that comes across with this book is really the reason why I loved reading it so much. In the novel, three kids who thought they would never encounter one another, do. And even though they are different, they still are able to be good friends.

            How they met one another was through an amazing thing that was going to occur.  At the Moon shadow campground, an eclipse was going to occur. Many people are flocking to the campground to see this amazing eclipse. There are three children in this book that are able to put aside their differences and become friends.

            Ally lives at the Moon Shadow campgrounds and her family members and her are the caretakers of the campground. She lives a very isolated life. She has no cellphone, very little television signals and is homeschooled as well. And now her family is planning on moving to a city and allowing Ally to go to a public school for the first time.  Bree, a very popular teen with dreams of becoming prom queen and being on the cover of Seventeen Magazine, is the complete opposite from Ally. Bree’s family decides to take the place of Ally’s family and become the new caretakers of the campground. Bree could be less than thrilled about this because now she will have the same life that Ally does, very isolated from everyone. Then there is Jack, a very shy boy who enjoys staying in his tree house to read comic books and draw pictures. Jack had just failed his science class and is forced to either attend summer school or go to Moon Shadow and watch the eclipse with his teacher. So, he chooses to go to the campground to watch the eclipse, but this is hard for Jack because he is very shy.

            Through multiple events, the children meet each other. Even though they are very different, they are still able to become friends. And that is exactly what this book has taught me. To not judge a person by what you see, you have to really get to know them before you can judge them. Even though all of these teens were nothing close to similar, they are able to bond in a way that almost makes them inseparable.  This book has also taught me to always take chances. For example, If Jack didn’t chose to go to the camp he would have never been able to open up and find great new friends.

             Thank you for writing this amazing book. I think that many teens will get the message that you got across with this book, and really apply it into their everyday lives.

            

            Sincerely,

            Samantha Mendelsohn