1/10/10 - Every Soul a Star

Every Soul a Star (Wendy Mass)

This covers about two weeks (leading up to a total solar eclipse) through the perspectives of three teenagers.  It’s the old “unlikely friendship” story, though there are actually 6 characters in the group of friends.

Mass’ plot is really strong.  She jumps back and forth between each character, but the story isn’t 100% linear.  For instance, Ally will describe one incident and you’ll see Jack present, but it won’t be clear what’s happening.  Then Jack will follow up and give his perspective, and what was going on in that original scene will become clear (without the exact same scene being replayed).   But since the time overlaps, you don’t get clarity on some points immediately, which is good.

I love the various narratives in the story, but they came with an issue: there’s not a strong distinction between the voices unless there’s dialogue.  This might not be a problem, except really the majority is narrative.  I mean, it’s obvious who’s talking, but there should be some alteration in tone or even syntax.  Like, Bree is a “popular girl,” and every now and then she describes something as “fab.”  But those times are few and far between.  Wouldn’t she, even in internal dialogue, have a more distinct voice than Ally?  Or Jack?  For that matter, for someone really intelligent, Ally’s narration should sound different than Bree.

You can make the comparison with Robert Cormier – The Chocolate War was primarily focalized (third person) through Jerry, but when Cormier would swap perspectives into another character, the voice shifted.  One character had a catch phrase or two that another wouldn’t – just like in reality, if they were speaking.  So the fact that Mass is using first-person narrative should necessitate such distinction even more.

Aside from that, the descriptions of space and astronomy were wonderful.  The description of the solar eclipse was amazing, absolutely amazing.  And the fact that the kids were part of groups that real people can join – SETI, for instance – was cool.  I like when authors use these real-life references, so the reader can, say, go to SETI’s website and hook her computer up and be part of the search for extra-terrestrial life.  Not that I’m talking about me, or anything…

But the best thing I took away from this book was the realization that on August 21, 2017, Christian Co. KY – about an hour or so from where I live – will have the best viewing of a total solar eclipse.  I cannot wait to see the moon’s shadow race up to meet me.