I read this book with a cat on my lap. He may have influenced my review on this dog lovers book. The set up in the prologue was confusing and had too many blahs. The author's writing is stilted. It did not flow well. Too much happened without explanation. The setting seems as if it's written for very young chapter readers-grades 1 and 2, but the vocabulary is more for grades 3-5. The introduction of characters was awkward too. I had trouble figuring out who Blaze was and the sentence ". she's a football and rock star." Had me thinking she was an actual football at first reading. The plot revolves around Maya not wanting to clean up dog poop for the puppy she says she loves so much. They adventure out to find a place for Waggers to poop where they can leave it so that Maya's uncle won't make the dog go away. The setting seems to be going for fantasy with a story of puddin head reds hating blue sweeties and vice versa. The author adds dog care tidbits to the fantasy story. It would have been better as a realistic fiction story with dog care asides. ( )

Anna Rose Johnson's debut takes readers to Michigan in the early 1900s to explore themes of family, belonging, and the quest for security and happiness alongside young Norvia, the main character of the story, who has to navigate a new school, new family after her parents divorce and her mother remarries, and new sources of comfort and discomfort as she tries to take control of her life. That constant quest for security and happiness is partially what keeps readers turning pages, as the author raises question after story question that the reader must have answers to.

The characters are another part of what makes this story as engaging as it is. Dicta, for instance, the youngest of the children, had a unique sort of personality as well as a physical disability, spoke her mind on all subjects, and was vain and not at all tenderhearted. There's a sort of innocence about her in spite of her curious and disregarding manner, and the way she carried out her ideas with her youthful confidence and enthusiasm brought a certain light to the story.

Elton was the second-oldest after Herman, the brother who left the family to be employed elsewhere, and his time was spent in the fields doing work that he loved and being the steady remaining older brother to his siblings.

Casper's role wasn't as front and center, but he learned valuable things about choice in education, training, and hard work.

And Norvia is the one of whom Dicta remarks in the second half of the book that she is "never happy." I didn't realize that until she pointed it out, after which it became glaringly obvious. She found solace in books and in trying to make things the way they were in some ways, but she wasn't really happy, and she couldn't truly be happy for others either. Part of that has to do with her journey in the book, as she wanted a better life with the ability to make her own choices. Her goals and outlook change as she does, and it was such an intriguing journey.

Of the school friends, Kitty seemed one-dimensional at times, with her unfailing loyalty to the protagonist and the way she was made out to be a flighty, clumsy scatterbrain of a sidekick. I wish we could have seen more of her value outside of her usefulness to the main character. She seemed like such a sweet and kind person, and Norvia's ideas of what Kitty ought to be would certainly not be kind to her if they were carried out.

Altogether, The Star That Always Stays is a children's book geared perhaps towards older children, with its content of messy family relationships, childbirth, and sorrow/helplessness. There's a certain thread of hope that ties the story together, perhaps most evidently at the end, and it creates an experience that is hard to forget. I've enjoyed my time with these characters, and I look forward to reading more by Anna Rose Johnson.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through the publisher for review purposes. A positive review was not required.

Content: joking about ghosts and a crazy wife locked in a room, fear in reference to that conversation, fairies and witches mentioned, a character stares into his teacup "as if reading his future in the [tea] leaves" ( )

This was a fun read! The setting was nice. The storyline was entertaining! And the writing was great! I liked the twists and turns! It was a short read but it's a great start to for a new series. It will be interesting to follow along and see how it develops ( )

Before America Singer there was Queen Amberly. This novella touches on Amberly's life as part of the Selection. There are hints of abuse in the story as well as Queen Abby being a drunk. All in all it was an okay read. I think reading about Amberly from start to finish rather than this short story would've worked better, but it does give you an insight of her life before she became Queen. ( )

a novel about a family holding a secret plan and the plan is credit cards ( )