The Star Maker

Yep, L. (2011). The star maker. New York:  HarperCollins Publishers.

Artie is a young Chinese boy who is the youngest in his family and is constantly picked on.   His family had many parties and at the first one of the story, Artie is playing board games with his cousins when his Uncle wants to join in on the fun.  Petey, one of his cousins, has always given him a hard time and while playing a board game Artie got frustrated and threw the die.  Uncle then started a new conversation to get everyone’s attention off of Artie.  The new conversation was about firecrackers.  Everyone loved firecrackers and each child had a favorite.  Petey continued to give Artie a hard time so he got so mad he said that he would have so many firecrackers one day that he would give them away.  Wow, that started something new!    He now had to come up with money to buy all of these firecrackers to give out to family by the Chinese New Year.  Artie learned very valuable lessons through his journey from September until February and that he could count on one person, his Uncle Chester!

In our culture we associate fireworks/firecrackers with the Fourth of July and sometimes New Years’, depending on individual traditions.  I chose this book because firecrackers always amaze me; you never really know what pattern you will get.  Even though it may be the same brand, the design will change slightly, you cannot control it.  I guess I have never really thought of it this way, but it can kind of be like a snowflake, no one is exactly the same.  Why would one want to be like the other?  The bright flash in the sky has its moment, might as well make it big and shiny!  The “stars” are made on the Chinese New Year Day by Artie’s family.  Most families normally do theirs on New Years Eve but Artie’s family always waited.   The appropriate reading level for this book is grades 3-7, and this would be one that I would recommend to anyone to show the value in family and traditions; makes a person really think about what is important no matter the situation.

“Making noise.  Making Light.  Making Stars.  Not in the night sky, but right here in front of me.”

The protagonists of the story, Artie and his Uncle Chester, spend so much time together that they have found a new appreciation for each others stories.  It starts out with Uncle Chester looking out for Artie when Petey, a minor character, starts to attack him about being the youngest, a “mooch” and useless.  This attack starts to have a person-against- self conflict for Artie until his uncle tells him stories of what it was like when he was a child.  Artie and his uncle were more a like in more ways than one and Uncle Chester was always going to look out for Artie no matter what.  He did not want Artie growing up with the same thoughts in his head that he had when he was growing up.  The mean things that were said to Chester stuck with him into his adulthood.  Artie and Uncle Chester both developed a new characterization by the end of story, it’s like something happened and turned on a light to a whole new world.  The character change was nothing but good for the both of them!

I do not necessarily have a quote for this life comparison, but in the beginning of the book when all the children are playing games and Artie is constantly picked on by Petey until Uncle Chester’s comes into play with them gave me a flashback.  I can remember times when my entire family would gather at my Grandmother’s house for holidays or just to get together.  My older cousins and even sisters would pick on me because I would always want to help out the “grown ups”, my Mom, my Grandma and my Aunt Connie.  As the years passed as we grew older it only seemed to get worse as everyone was experiencing new things.  I would concentrate on school, playing, cooking with my family, etc.  I then became the “goody good”.  It didn’t make me happy at the time to constantly be nagged about always being good but a couple of Christmas’ ago when I went to my Grandmother’s house, my cousins gave me a nice reminder that I was always the good one in the family.  You know what?  I finally realized (mid 20’s) that I was okay with that, call me what you will.  I am proud of what I was and what I have become because I went on to accomplish many things. 

“I tried to hand him my packets. ‘I don’t feel like it.  Maybe you can return these.  And then save that money to get your watch back.’”

“But Uncle wouldn’t take them.  ‘Enjoy what you got while you got it.  The watch was great, but, hey’—he raised his shoulder in a shrug— ‘it just wasn’t meant to be permanent.”

These two quotes say a lot to me, in not so many words.  I have an aunt in my life that would do anything in the world for me and vice versa.  She continually tells me and my sister that we are blessings to her and without her; I wouldn’t be the person that I am today.  She has given me the world.  I thank this book for making me remember the small things and what matters in life, and that’s family!  I would not be where I am today without them.  Like Artie, I can always count on my Aunt Connie!

Big Question:  How would you show your appreciation for someone in your family?  Would you give something up for them because of a promise that you made to them?   How does giving back to your family or community make you feel?  Appreciative?