Where the Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller | eBook

Children's Literature - Kim Dare

For the past twelve years, Callie's world has revolved around her mother, who abducted her when she was five. Her mom, Veronica suffers from bipolar disorder, and has perfected the art of living on the run. However, when Veronica is arrested in a routine traffic stop, Callie is reunited with a father she barely remembers. Greg is thrilled to welcome Callie into the large extended Greek family along the gulf coast of Florida. But twelve years of looking after herself and her mother have made Callie hesitant to trust others. While her cousin Kat has fond memories of the two of them being best friends as toddlers, Callie has never lived in one place long enough to form a real friendship, and they get off to a bumpy start. Callie suffered sexual abuse at the hands of her mother's boyfriend when she was younger, and while she feels a strong attraction to sponge-diver Alex, she has no real concept of where sex fits into a healthy relationship. Complicating matters further, Veronica is out on bail and secretly seeing Callie, making her feel guilty about her new relationships and ever more sure that her mother is not going to be able to manage without her. It is a lot to handle, but Doller portrays the different relationships and Callie's torn loyalties beautifully. The ending manages to be hopeful for all of the characters without tying everything up too neatly. Some fairly graphic sexual content makes this a story more suitable for high school students. Reviewer: Kim Dare

School Library Journal

09/01/2013
Gr 10 Up—Readers who appreciated the gritty realism tempered with romance in Doller's Something Like Normal (Bloomsbury, 2012) will welcome this book about a 17-year-old struggling to move beyond a traumatic past and find redemption. Callie was kidnapped at age five by her mother, Veronica, and both have been on the run ever since. Rootless and bouncing from place to place, the teen has become accustomed to loneliness. But when Veronica is finally arrested for her daughter's kidnapping, Callie's reunion with her father, Greg, is bittersweet. Left to her own devices all those years, she bristles at his attempts to establish a stable home environment and draw her into his close-knit family. He is part of a large Greek-American community in which everyone seems to know everyone and she is overwhelmed by it. Callie's competing loyalties to both parents prove trying as she grapples with creating friendships and fulfilling family expectations. Terrifying flashbacks also reveal that Callie was sexually abused as a child. She seeks solace in the arms of Alex, a local boy with a "ladies' man" reputation. Soon, their relationship develops from something steamy into enduring tenderness. Adding depth is the novel's stark contrast between Callie's itinerant, heartbreaking former life and her new one, suffused with warmth and Greek traditions. Doller gracefully handles complex issues including mental illness, parental neglect, and trauma in a respectful manner that will ring true to readers. A highly suitable choice for teens who enjoyed Erica Lorraine Scheidt's Uses for Boys (St. Martin's, 2013).—Lalitha Nataraj, Escondido Public Library, CA

Publishers Weekly

Not only does Callie have secrets, she is one: she and her mother have been on the run since her parents split up and her mother abducted her. Five then, 17 now, Callie has had many names, and she wears thrift-store T-shirts that transform her into “a Cowboys fan or someone who’s attended the Jenkins-Carter family reunion.” She can wash her hair in a rest area sink and take care of herself and her erratic mother. Then comes a traffic stop, and suddenly her mother is in police custody, and Callie is meeting the father she barely remembers. Doller (Something Like Normal) makes Callie believably tough, scarred, and loyal, more used to hooking up than actually dating. The setting—the tight-knit, heavily Greek community of Tarpon Springs, Fla.—is nicely specific, and although Callie’s family is a bit too perfect and the resolution of whether she will stay in Florida or return to her mother is made too easy, the pleasures of watching Callie grapple with her past, future, and a new love easily outweigh these quibbles. Ages 14–up. Agent: Kate Schafer Testerman, kt literary. (Sept.)

From the Publisher

“Beautiful in its grit and realism, Where the Stars Still Shine is a skillfully woven story of the ties that bind and bond us.” —Jessi Kirby, author of Golden

“Compelling . . . Doller does a great job at showing how Callie has a foot in both of her worlds and her intense and volatile emotions.” —Library Media Connection

“The romance and tight narrative make this a dynamo of a soldier's story.” —School Library Journal on Something Like Normal

“Something Like Normal is intense and sweet, just like Travis, and that makes for a memorable read.” —Iheartdaily.com on Something Like Normal

“Amazing. You will smile and sob and when you finish, you will walk away a better you. READ THIS BOOK NOW.” —New York Times bestselling author Lauren Myracle on Something Like Normal

“Doller debuts with a timely novel that carves new ground out of the saturated teen romance and post-war trauma genres . . . Doller avoids politicization of the war, and she addresses post-traumatic stress disorder with honesty and a light touch, making Travis's experience both personal and relatable.” —Publishers Weekly on Something Like Normal

“Compelling.… Doller does a great job at showing how Callie has a foot in both of her worlds and her intense and volatile emotions.” —Library Media Connection

VOYA - Raluca Topliceanu

Where The Stars Still Shine is a novel to be valued for the author's engaging writing style rather than the characters alone. The plot is predictable—bad characters disappear when they need to, love triangles threaten to destroy friendships but never do—however, the author masterfully weaves everything together into something much deeper than the plot. The novel tries to get at the inner workings of identity and does so beautifully. Reviewer: Raluca Topliceanu, Teen Reviewer

VOYA - Sara Martin

When Callie was a child, her mother kidnapped her, and they have been living on the run for the past ten years. Run-down apartments, vending-machine dinners, abusive boyfriends, and an unstable mother leave Callie feeling scarred, distrustful, and reckless. When her mother is finally caught and arrested for kidnapping, Callie is returned to a home she barely remembers. Her father has remarried and has two little boys, and her stepmother is hesitant to trust Callie, fearing that she might be just like her mother—a fear that Callie herself also harbors. The transition back into a "normal" life is anything but easy as she struggles to fit into a family, remember what it means to form a real friendship, and figure out if she can trust the beautiful and mysterious boy from the docks. Where The Stars Still Shine is more than just a "problem" novel. Callie's story is layered and engaging as she teeters on the edge of self-destruction. Doller also creates fully realized, multidimensional supporting characters. She captures the manic sadness of Callie's mother, the careful hopefulness of her father, the overbearing optimism of her childhood best friend—all without relegating them to the role of stereotypical extras. Frank descriptions of abuse and sexual situations make this novel best suited for high school readers. Give to fans of Lauren Myracle's Shine (Amulet, 2011/Voya April 2011) or Sara Zarr's How To Save A Life (Little, Brown, 2011/Voya December 2011) who are looking for a little more edge to the story. Reviewer: Sara Martin

Kirkus Reviews

Kidnapped and dragged across the country by her mentally ill mother, Callie's never been to school or had a friend; then a routine stop for a vehicle infraction changes everything. With her mother in jail, Greg, Callie's architect father, brings her home to Tarpon Springs, Fla. It's not an easy adjustment. Greg is overjoyed, but his wife is reluctant to trust Callie, 17, with their two small sons. Callie's loving, rambunctious, Greek-American extended family does mostly embrace her, especially her cousin, Kat. The girls are the same age but years apart in life experience. With a long sexual history, Callie quickly acts on her attraction to Alex, a sponge diver. Having a real family, real friends feels good--but also like a betrayal of her mother. Without sugarcoating the impact of abuse, Doller offsets it through the abundance of what Callie's new life offers her--if she can just accept it. In teen fiction, heroines burdened with a serious problem or handicap tend to be extraordinarily gifted in other respects, as if in compensation. Callie's exceptionally exceptional: beautiful, smart, loved, welcomed by a family with the resources to supply what she needs. Realistic or not, though, knowing what she's been through, readers will root for her all the way. A moving story told with compassion and insight. (author's note) (Fiction. 14 & up)

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