The World Above

Author: Cameron Dokey
Pages: 175
Rating: G

Summary: Gen and her twin brother, Jack, were raised with their mother's tales of life in the World Above. Gen is skeptical, but adventurous Jack believes the stories--and trades the family cow for magical beans. Their mother rejoices, knowing they can finally return to their royal home.
When Jack plants the beans and climbs the enchanted stalk, he is captured by the tyrant who now rules the land. Gen sets off to rescue her brother, but danger awaits her in the World Above. For finding Jack may mean losing her heart....

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My Thoughts: This would probably be one of my favorite of the Once Upon a Time books. It's kind of a mixture between "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "Robin Hood," which makes for an interesting story. Like all fairy tales, the love part is super cheesy and overdone, but it's still cute. Basically, the idea is that Jack and Gen were originally from the World Above, but their mother came down to the "World Below" to run away from a man who was trying to kill her. She raises her children Below, with the promise from her old nursing maid that when the time is right, she will send a messenger with the magic beans to take them back to the World Above. And the giant is actually a nice guy who helps them. He's not a bad guy. Definitely worth the read. If you've read my other posts about these books, they typically have too much build up and not enough climax, but this one I felt had the right amounts of everything. I didn't feel gypped at the end.

The Age of Miracles

Author: Karen Thompson Walker
Pages: 269

Rating: PG-13 (There is some language, including maybe 3-4 F-words. I would say there's probably a swear word once every 30 pages or so. It's not a lot.)

Summary:
On an ordinary Saturday, Julia awakes to discover that something has happened to the rotation of the earth. The days and nights are growing longer and longer, gravity is affected, the birds, the tides, human behavior and cosmic rhythms are thrown into disarray. In a world of danger and loss, Julia faces surprising developments in herself, and her personal world—divisions widening between her parents, strange behavior by Hanna and other friends, the vulnerability of first love, a sense of isolation, and a rebellious new strength.

My Thoughts: This is first novel, and the concept was interesting, but I thought the author could have gone a lot farther with it. Basically, the earth's rotation slows down so that eventually "days" and "nights" are lasting 60 hours each. But instead of something really interesting happening, everyone just does their best to adapt. It's more of a coming of age story, but with a different setting than you've seen before. I thought it was a good book, definitely interesting, but not as good as I thought it was going to be. Also, I couldn't figure out how the title applied. The only "miracle" in the book was that the earth wasn't turning they way it's supposed to. Everything else was just sad, like birds dying and people getting sick.

The American Way of Eating: Undercover at walmart, Applebee's, Farm Fields, and the Dinner Table

Author:Tracie McMillan
Pages: 241
Rating: PG-13 (There is some language, which was kind of disappointing. I think the F-word was there 5 or 6 times.)

Summary: When award-winning (and working-class) journalist Tracie McMillan saw foodies swooning over $9 organic tomatoes, she couldn’t help but wonder: What about the rest of us? Why do working Americans eat the way we do? And what can we do to change it? To find out, McMillan went undercover in three jobs that feed America, living and eating off her wages in each. Reporting from California fields, a Walmart produce aisle outside of Detroit, and the kitchen of a New York City Applebee’s, McMillan examines the reality of our country’s food industry in this “clear and essential” (The Boston Globe) work of reportage. Chronicling her own experience and that of the Mexican garlic crews, Midwestern produce managers, and Caribbean line cooks with whom she works, McMillan goes beyond the food on her plate to explore the national priorities that put it there.
Fearlessly reported and beautifully written, The American Way of Eating goes beyond statistics and culture wars to deliver a book that is fiercely honest, strikingly intelligent, and compulsively readable. In making the simple case that—city or country, rich or poor—everyone wants good food, McMillan guarantees that talking about dinner will never be the same again.

My Thoughts: It took me forever to get through this book. Probably mostly because I was really only interested in the summary at the end of the book. Basically, the entire thing can be summarized in: American's know that we need to eat better but because of lack of basic cooking skills (kids aren't being taught by their parents or home ec classes anymore) and the difficulty of obtaining healthy, good quality food, we just don't eat as well as we all know we ought to.

Also, there's a lot of crap going on in the fields. When McMillan spent some time as a farmworker, she learned of some pretty common practices. When she picked garlic, all the workers were payed by the bucket. She got $1.60 per bucket of garlic picked. At her best, she only picked about 10 buckets per 12 hour day - earning her a whopping $16. Now, California law requires the farm companies to make up the difference, so that each worker will make minimum wage at the end of the day. Big surprise....they don't.  McMillan's pay stubs were still for $16, but instead of showing that she worked for 8-12 hours, they showed that she worked for 2. This is extremely common, and rarely disputed, especially since many farmworkers have questionable legal status. Also, there are laws about how close workers can be to a field that is being sprayed with pesticides, or how long they have to wait until workers go back into a field that has just been sprayed. These laws are largely ignored.

In her time at Applebee's McMillan learned that you don't need much cooking expertise to work in a restaurant kitchen, unless you're cooking the steaks and burgers. Other than that, all you're really doing is scooping out pre-made portions and sticking them in the microwave.

Basically, the end statement was that in order for Americans to eat better, we need to make quality, affordable food more accessible to the general public, and we also need to make sure that we have the basic cooking skills necessary to prepare basic, healthy meals. And I totally agree. It's just plain easier to eat what's cheap and simple to prepare.
 

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

Author: Rachel Joyce
Pages: 320
Rating: PG-13-R (There was more swearing than I was comfortable with, including at least 15 instances of the F-word)

Summary:
Meet Harold Fry, recently retired. He lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does, even down to how he butters his toast. Little differentiates one day from the next. Then one morning the mail arrives, and within the stack of quotidian minutiae is a letter addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl from a woman he hasn’t seen or heard from in twenty years. Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye.

Harold pens a quick reply and, leaving Maureen to her chores, heads to the corner mailbox. But then, as happens in the very best works of fiction, Harold has a chance encounter, one that convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. And thus begins the unlikely pilgrimage at the heart of Rachel Joyce’s remarkable debut. Harold Fry is determined to walk six hundred miles from Kingsbridge to the hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed because, he believes, as long as he walks, Queenie Hennessey will live.

Still in his yachting shoes and light coat, Harold embarks on his urgent quest across the countryside. Along the way he meets one fascinating character after another, each of whom unlocks his long-dormant spirit and sense of promise. Memories of his first dance with Maureen, his wedding day, his joy in fatherhood, come rushing back to him—allowing him to also reconcile the losses and the regrets. As for Maureen, she finds herself missing Harold for the first time in years.

And then there is the unfinished business with Queenie Hennessy.

My Thoughts: I wasn't really all that impressed with this book. It's interesting, that's for sure, and a different story line than perhaps you may have read before, but I don't know. It just didn't grab me that well. Maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind for it.

Either way, it is a really good story about healing, both of individuals and as groups. Harold and Maureen have a rocky marriage that has been quite loveless for some time. The walk manages to renew their feelings for each other, slowly and surely. There is also a problem in the book about Harold's son David. You get this feeling that something went wrong with David and that Harold has blamed himself for it for all these years, and Maureen has let him do it. They need to come to terms with their son and with each other. Harold and Maureen were both very well developed characters, but I honestly felt that there was not enough development of some of the secondary characters in the book.

There wasn't really anything inappropriate in it, just the language. And like I said, I felt like there was too much swearing for me.

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

Author: Michael Pollan
Pages: 201
Rating:  G

Summary:
What to eat, what not to eat, and how to think about health: a manifesto for our times

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." These simple words go to the heart of Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, the well-considered answers he provides to the questions posed in the bestselling The Omnivore's Dilemma.

Humans used to know how to eat well, Pollan argues. But the balanced dietary lessons that were once passed down through generations have been confused, complicated, and distorted by food industry marketers, nutritional scientists, and journalists-all of whom have much to gain from our dietary confusion. As a result, we face today a complex culinary landscape dense with bad advice and foods that are not "real." These "edible foodlike substances" are often packaged with labels bearing health claims that are typically false or misleading. Indeed, real food is fast disappearing from the marketplace, to be replaced by "nutrients," and plain old eating by an obsession with nutrition that is, paradoxically, ruining our health, not to mention our meals. Michael Pollan's sensible and decidedly counterintuitive advice is: "Don't eat anything that your great-great grandmother would not recognize as food."

Writing In Defense of Food, and affirming the joy of eating, Pollan suggests that if we would pay more for better, well-grown food, but buy less of it, we'll benefit ourselves, our communities, and the environment at large. Taking a clear-eyed look at what science does and does not know about the links between diet and health, he proposes a new way to think about the question of what to eat that is informed by ecology and tradition rather than by the prevailing nutrient-by-nutrient approach.

In Defense of Food reminds us that, despite the daunting dietary landscape Americans confront in the modern supermarket, the solutions to the current omnivore's dilemma can be found all around us.

In looking toward traditional diets the world over, as well as the foods our families-and regions-historically enjoyed, we can recover a more balanced, reasonable, and pleasurable approach to food. Michael Pollan's bracing and eloquent manifesto shows us how we might start making thoughtful food choices that will enrich our lives and enlarge our sense of what it means to be healthy.

My Thoughts: This book was a real eye-opener. Basically, the author argues that we are so obsessed with nutrients, and so focused on the one magical thing that will make us healthier (less fat, lower carbs, more omega 3's) that we have forgotten the fact that we're not eating nutrients, we're eating food. And a whole food is more than just the sum of its parts. Pollan basically tells us that the entire Western diet is flawed. Diets from other cultures, as diverse as they may be, inevitably create healthier human beings than our diet does.

And it's more complicated than just buying more healthy foods. Since we are part of a food chain, what our food sources eat is important too. The soils our food comes from are starting to become less nutritious, which is bad for our cows, which then results in meat that isn't as nutritionally healthy.

There are definitely some really good points in this book. I'm not sure that I'm convinced that I need to go buy everything organic, as the author suggests, but I will say that I am more wary of how many weird ingredients crop up in my food, and that I am more determined to eat more fruits, veggies, and stuff made from scratch at home, where I know what exactly is in it.

I guarantee that if you read this, the way you look at food and the way you eat will change significantly. It's a fascinating, and very easy read. Some of the nutrient science was a bit over my head, but I still got the main idea. He ends the book with a series of tips of how to be a better eater, so don't think that the book is just condemning your current eating style. Some of his tips include:

-Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food
- Avoid anything with a health claim
- Avoid anything with more than five ingredients, or with ingredients you don't recognize.
- Eat mostly plants, especially leaves

Those are just a taste. You'll have to read the book. It was really a good one!

Cheyenne in New York

Author: Jack Weyland
Pages: 279
Rating: G

Summary:
Ben Morelli is a brash, up-and-coming New York City ad agency executive. He's just landed a huge account, and his future looks bright. The last thing he needs is to share the spotlight with some hick from Idaho.
Bright, outspokenly moral, and unfailingly honest, Cheyenne is everything Ben thinks he dislikes in a woman. She's also a Mormon, whatever that is. It doesn't help, either, that his most important client thinks Cheyenne is terrific. And so does Ben's family.
In Cheyenne in New York, Jack Weyland introduces us to an intriguing pair of strong-willed, seemingly mismatched characters whose family backgrounds, interests, and ambitions are worlds apart.
A contemporary love story played out in the aftermath of a horrific national disaster, this latest Jack Weyland novel reaffirms in an unforgettable way the power of love, faith, and family ties.

My Thoughts: Honestly, I wasn't that impressed. The book was pretty cheesy, and everything moved much too quickly. Ben doesn't struggle for very long about the whole Mormon thing before he all of a sudden believes it. The whole first half of the book was just straight cheese. The writing did get a lot better in the second half of the book. Basically, what happens is 9/11 and Ben has family that is directly effected by the terrorist attacks. Suddenly, the storyline is interesting and no longer quite so cheesy. It becomes a lot more real at that point. I still felt that the development of the relationship between Ben and Cheyenne left something to be desired. They're so pure together, and then they get upset over dumb stuff. I don't know, it was a nice little read, and uplifting for sure, because the gospel is so prominent, but I wasn't all that wowed by it.

Trilogy: Divergent

Book One: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Rating: PG-13

Pages: 487

Summary:
In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

My Thoughts:
First of all, I have to say, I like this better than "The Hunger Games" which I hated. I felt like Hunger Games was really sadistic and morbid and I just couldn't come to terms with the idea of putting a bunch of teenagers in an arena to kill each other for everyone's entertainment. Divergent is different. I like my share of dystopian novels, and this one I really liked. It's not as sadistic really.

Divergent is extremely well written. I finished the book very quickly because it was impossible to put down. There are no good stopping places. And even when the first book ends, the next book picks up right where it left off. I can't wait to get the second one from the library. The way that Erudite blames everything on Abnegation and tries to exterminate them for no reason reminded me quite a bit of the Holocaust, so I'm sure that's part of where the author got her ideas from. It's a little bit scary to realize that it's a dystopian futuristic society novel, but with a touch of reality. Stuff similar to this actually happened in the past, and can happen again.  

It is pretty violent. It's war. People die, and there's some level of psychological torture as well. But like I said, I didn't feel the violence was as bad as in the Hunger Games. Divergent violence is more warlike and people are getting hurt out of self-defense type stuff. Hunger Games was throwing a bunch of people together and forcing them to kill each other. So I guess it depends on whether that bothers you or not. But I'm just saying I was wary of Divergent because of the fact that I hated Hunger Games so much, but I didn't find myself disliking Divergent. I'm just realy intrigued and can't wait to find out what happens next.

Book Two: Insurgent
Pages: 525
Rating: PG-13+

Summary:
One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.
Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

My Thoughts: This book was a LOT more intense and scary than the first one. I found myself putting it down a lot because I would just get too freaked out and knew I would probably not sleep well if I kept reading. Sometimes the only thing that kept me going is knowing there was no possible way Tris could die, because the story is ABOUT her, so she has to survive. I would definitely not recommend this series to anyone younger than high school just because of it's high-intensity level. And I don't think I could actually handle watching a movie version of these books. They are full of heart-pounding suspense and scariness.

That being said, I liked this book, but probably not as much as the first one. For example, Tris spends most of this book being such a suicidal idiot that I really wanted to smack her. She is so full of grief from the tragedies she experiences in Book 1 that she turns into a bit of an adrenaline junkie, and throws herself into several extremely dangerous situations without really thinking about it. Also in this book, several people die, and there's torture, and it's difficult to read about. However, you eventually find out that all of this war has something to do with what is outside of the city fence that keeps them all in. (But we don't actually find out specifically what is out there.) Tobias and Tris also have some relationship issues that are hard to deal with.

All in all, I cannot wait for the third book to come out! Not till October, yeesh! Haven't had to wait like this since Harry Potter!

Book 3: Allegiant
Pages: 526
Rating: PG-13

Summary:

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered- fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she's known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories. 

But Tris's new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature- and of herself- while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love. 

My Thoughts: First of all, SO happy I finally got to read this. I actually really enjoyed this series as a whole. I felt like it was a very realistic portrayal of a futuristic society, some of the attitudes and ideas portrayed in this final book seem like they could really happen in our lifetime. This book was really sad at the end, but I still really loved it and was very satisfied with the ending. I would definitely recommend this trilogy. I feel like I really can't review this without giving out what happens, so....for the first time ever, I am including spoilers! 

Spoiler Alert! Do not read beyond this point if you don't want to know what happens!

So let me start at the beginning...Tris lives in a city where everyone is divided into "factions" based on their internal traits and characteristics. Tris, however, is Divergent, meaning that she doesn't fit exactly into just one faction. Divergent is a dangerous thing to be. No one really knows why, but one of the city's leaders is killing all the Divergent she can get her hands on. To make a long story short, there's a war, and Tris manages to get her hands on a video where one of the city's earliest members explains that the city was put together because those on the outside need help, and when there is a high population of Divergent, they should send them outside the fence to help those on the outside. 

Here's where book 3 comes in. Tris, Tobias, and several others decide to journey to the outside of the fence, find out what is out there, and what they can do to help. What they find is not what they were expecting. They learn that centuries ago, the United States discovered that the undesirable qualities in human nature could be traced to genetics. So the government decided to start altering people's genes to get rid of these problematic qualities. However, they found that the alterations actually caused more problems than they solved. There was a huge war between those who had been modified and those who hadn't, and the result was that the government took large numbers of genetically altered humans, wiped their memories, and placed them in controlled environments like Tris's city. The city Tris has lived in is basically an experiment, and they are constantly be watched. The Divergent are those whose genes are the most healed, and the point of the experiment is to wait for enough Divergent to evolve that they can then reproduce and create more genetically pure people. 

Unfortunately, the government is only concerned about creating a new population of genetically pure people, who will supposedly be perfect, and nothing bad will ever happen again. They don't care how many "damaged" people die in the process. So, Tris and her band of friends set out to change this prejudice. In the end, Tris actually dies while fighting for this new cause. It's really sad, but I felt the ending was still really satisfying and good, and I wasn't too torn apart by it. I really like the last line of the book, hopefully me putting it here doesn't ruin it for you. "Life damages everyone. We can't escape that damage. But now, I am also learning this:  We can be mended. We mend each other." I thought that was a great final message. 

The whole storyline of putting people into an experiment to strengthen the human race reminded me of a book I've read several times and absolutely love, called "Running out of Time" by Margaret Peterson Haddix. I would recommend giving that one a read if you loved the Divergent series. 

In all, I loved this trilogy, thought it had some great messages and it was an imaginative and captivating storyline. Enjoy!

Life of Pi

Author: Yann Martel
Pages: 319
Rating: PG-13 (I know the movie is only rated PG, but in the book, the tiger rips apart several animals and another human, and the descriptions are quite graphic. They must have glossed over these parts in the movie.)

Summary: After the sinking of a cargo ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen-year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a wounded zebra, an orangutan—and a 450-pound royal bengal tiger. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary and beloved works of fiction in recent years.

My Thoughts: It was definitely an addicting read. And I'm not normally one for solitary survival stories. There are three parts to the book: before, during, and after Pi's lifeboat experience. The before part is really interesting. It tells all about Pi's life in India, and about how his dad owned a zoo, giving Pi the informational resources he needed to survive for almost a year in a lifeboat with a tiger. It also talks about how Pi really loved religions, and became a practicing Christian, Hindu, and Muslim, much to the chagrin of the leaders of each of these faiths in his area, and his parents. I thought that part was really comical. And it was a fascinating commentary on the good that can be found in all religions.

Like I said at the beginning, I would not recommend this to young readers because the killings that take place are rather graphic. There is no language, just violent deaths, be it of animals or in one case, a human. I didn't find myself changed by this book really, but it was definitely a good book. You keep waiting to find out how in the world this kid managed to survive. And it's written in such a way that the author makes you believe it's actually a true story (which it is not).

I can't wait to see the movie now. Although I suspect they will change some key moments in the book, just to make everything more dramatic.

Love 2.0: How Our Supreme Emotion Affects Everything We Feel, Think, Do, and Become

Author: Barbara L. Fredrickson, PH.D.
Pages: 195
Rating: G

Summary:We all know love matters, but in this groundbreaking book positive emotions expert Barbara Fredrickson shows us how much. Even more than happiness and optimism, love holds the key to improving our mental and physical health as well as lengthening our lives.

Using research from her own lab, Fredrickson redefines love not as a stable behemoth, but as micro-moments of connection between people—even strangers. She demonstrates that our capacity for experiencing love can be measured and strengthened in ways that improve our health and longevity. Finally, she introduces us to informal and formal practices to unlock love in our lives, generate compassion, and even self-soothe.

Rare in its scope and ambitious in its message, Love 2.0 will reinvent how you look at and experience our most powerful emotion.

My Thoughts: I highly recommend this one, especially if you see yourself as an anti-social person, or you just have difficulty connecting with others (like I do). As the summary stated, Frerickson redefines love as small moments of connection that you experience with random people you interact with throughout the day. The more positive connections you have each day, the healthier you will become, physically and mentally.

I found this to be a fascinating premise, especially because it really links to everything you learn through religion, that focusing on others and their needs, wishing them well, and hoping for the best, being compassionate to others in their times of distress, will actually bring you greater peace and happiness. Fredrickson also tackles the idea of self-love, but not in a narcissistic or "self-esteem" type of way. Her definition of self-love is just being able to accept yourself for who you are and where you are currently at in your personal development. It just means accepting yourself and being ok with however life is going for you at the moment. It's not beating yourself up for not living up to your expectations, but it also doesn't gloss over your imperfections and puff you up with prideful thoughts. I really liked it.

The book has two parts. The first part is the scientific explanation and proof for all of this, which I found sort of difficult to get through. The language is not quite as easy to understand as I would have liked. I found myself a bit lost quite often. However, if you don't really care about all that stuff, part two of the book is where you should start. In part two, the author delves into practical day to day activities that you can start using that will help you experience more loving moments every day. This is what I love about the book. Instead of just telling us to do it, and telling us why having these positive moments work, Fredrickson actually gives us a manual of HOW to make this happen in your life.

I actually have to return the book to the library because it is overdue, but I plan to reserve it again so I can start working on some of her ideas that were outlined in part two. I highly recommend this book! (By the way, all the exercises are very simple and don't take a lot of time out of your day.) Also...there is a website, www.positivityresonance.com and it has some guided meditations on it, if you want to go the meditation route. There are supposed to be other tools that will help you as well, but this part of the website is not up yet.

Love, Stargirl

Author: Jerry Spinelli
Pages: 274
Rating: G

Summary:
Love, Stargirl picks up a year after Stargirl ends and reveals the new life of the beloved character who moved away so suddenly at the end of Stargirl. The novel takes the form of "the world's longest letter," in diary form, going from date to date through a little more than a year's time. In her writing, Stargirl mixes memories of her bittersweet time in Mica, Arizona, with involvements with new people in her life.

In Love, Stargirl, we hear the voice of Stargirl herself as she reflects on time, life, Leo, and—of course—love.

My Thoughts: I didn't like this book as much as I enjoyed Stargirl. It's nice to know that Stargirl is actually real and that she lives on in another place, still thinking of Leo all the time, but the book just didn't really do it for me. She seems so much more mystical in the first book, so much more vibrant and exciting and different. This book normalizes her. There are some pretty interesting characters, such as the little girl, Dootsie, who becomes Stargirl's best friend (she is pretty hilarious) and a lady named Betty Lou, who is afraid to leave her house. It was a cute book, but not lifechanging for sure.