The Stars

March 1, 2023
In this tale translated from French, an Orthodox Jewish boy is fascinated by stars, planets--and the girl who shares his interest. Every day Yakov takes his sisters to the park, where he reads about space. He fantasizes about going "to the Moon, to Mars, to Titan, or to Ganymede," but his visions of Saturn are interrupted by his father's nagging. Then he meets a Muslim girl named A�cha. Instant soul mates, they daydream about the universe; in Goldstyn's loose-lined illustrations, space looks magical, with deep blue washes. Both children are tan-skinned, and A�cha wears a flowing hijab, while Yakov has side curls and sports a kippa. Yakov's Jewish community, with signs in French and Yiddish, is populated with large, friendly families: chatty women wearing head coverings; men wearing fur hats and kippot. Yakov prefers A�cha's company. They share bagels, ice cream, and space facts--all the while ignoring community gossip about their friendship. Driven apart by their infuriated fathers, they meet again in adulthood as happy, secular astronomers. The protagonists ultimately reach their dreams by rejecting their communities and fitting into the dominant culture--a narrative choice that's handled without nuance. Both fathers feel one-dimensional in their opposition to the friendship, and Yakov's and A�cha's reasons for leaving their faiths aren't fully unpacked. Whenever A�cha's hair is seen (she takes the hijab off as a child at one point, to Yakov's delight, and stops wearing it as an adult), it's depicted as a huge mass of rainbow-hued curls--a portrayal that exoticizes her and suggests that the headscarf is oppressive. A reductive tale of aspiration achieved through assimilation. (Graphic fiction. 6-10)

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May 1, 2023

Gr 2-4-Yakov, a young boy from an Orthodox Jewish community and A�cha, a Muslim girl in Montreal, become fast friends as they bond over their mutual interest in space. Both of them hope to one day become astronauts. One night, the two are stargazing, when A�cha's hijab slips off, revealing her colorful curls. Her father catches them, yelling at Yakov, who has developed a crush on A�cha, and whisking her away. Both of their parents are outraged, and they are immediately separated. Yakov desperately tries to reach A�cha again, but finds she has moved away. Years pass and readers are transported to Yakov's adulthood, where he is happily working for NASA. He has shed his kippah and payot, implying that he has left his faith. He reunites with A�cha at an astronomy conference, recognizing her by her hair, no longer covered by her hijab. The book concludes with images of the pair watching the stars with their three small children. Goldstyn's illustrations are lively and fun, and few readers will be unmoved by the turn of events that reunite Yakov and A�cha. However, the plot raises many questions for picture book readers. The reasons for the parents' anger is never explored, while the characters' choices to leave or downplay their respective faiths is handled without explanation or nuance. By omitting these important details, the story may end up framing religion as an inherently oppressive system. VERDICT A useful title for units on prejudice, or an exploration of differences and commonalities; educators can bridge what otherwise may make be cryptic to the usual picture book audience.-Jillian Girardeau,

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 1, 2023
Grades 1-4 *Starred Review* Two children of different backgrounds but complementary interests are forced apart and then reunite years later in this sweet love story from the author of Bertolt (2017). Yakov chafes at his stern father's expectations that he'll grow up to take over the family grocery, because all he dreams of doing is building rockets and exploring outer space. One day, he meets his new neighbor, A�cha, a girl with dark eyes ("like two little asteroids") beneath her hijab and a book about outer space in her lap. The two become inseparable--until the night when, after her scarf slips off to release a burst of colorful curls, her father roars in outrage behind them. Yakov's father is no happier, and by the time Yakov visits her again, he finds only an empty house. In simple, fluidly drawn cartoons, occasional glimpses of starry deeps alternate with views of the children, exaggeratedly tiny next to their choleric sires, in a multicultural neighborhood ahum with background detail. Growing to adulthood, shedding his kippah and payot on the way to a career with NASA, Yakov achieves one dream . . . and when he ultimately spots that distinctive burst of colorful curls across a conference hall, another comes true--leading to a final picnic under the stars with a bevy of children, ending the tale on a note at once cozy and cosmic.

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