Disability in Middle Grade: What Stars Are Made of by Sarah Allen (Spoiler-Free Review)

Welcome back to Musings of an Arthritic Artist! 

Today I'm going to be reviewing a book I won through a Goodreads review last year. I had initially intended to review this book after I read it, but I forgot about it, so I decided to review it here on my blog. 

I wrote a post (this one: Does Writing Improve My Autoimmune Disease and Mental Health? (opens in new window)) where I talked about wanting to read a Children's, Middle Grade, or YA book about a character with a condition or disability at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. I wish I would've had this book, but sadly, I got this book in the mail in May. 

That book is What Stars Are Made of by Sarah Allen. 

Let's get into the review!

What Stars Are Made of is a book about 12 year old, Libby Monroe, who was born with Turner Syndrome (only affects girls; main key is a missing/partially missing X chromosome, though there's more to it than that; for those who are unfamiliar, girls should have two X chromosomes, not just one). It is an Own Voices novel. The author (Sarah Allen) was born with Turner Syndrome.

Personally, I have never heard of Turner Syndrome, so this book was incredibly interesting. 

She loves science and her older sister, Nonny. This was a heartwarming story. I enjoy how supportive Libby's family was. I enjoyed her parents, sister, and brother-in-law. 

Another thing I really liked was how positive this story was (however, not to the point of being annoying). Libby is an optimistic, 12 year old girl who has a medical condition, but doesn't let it get her down (at least, not for long). It didn't paint anyone in a bad light, and is the kind of book I would curl up with and re-read. 

I don't think I would pick this book over a Fantasy story of some kind, but I would definitely re-read it if I wanted a heartwarming story about a child with a medical condition. I would definitely re-read if I was in one of my disability moods (I have a hard time explaining what this means; it's basically one of my sometimes moods where I ponder disability and medical conditions and during those periods, I want to read books that have main or side characters with disability/medical conditions). 

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I really loved this book. It was heartwarming and so positive it made my heart smile. Libby was such a happy character, and I loved her. This story is also told in first-person, so just reading Libby's narration was so enjoyable. I think this is one of my favorite giveaways I've ever won through Goodreads, if not my absolute favorite. 

It was quick and short, but it wasn't too short to where its low page count bothered me. I read it over the course of two days, so it definitely didn't take me long. This is a middle grade novel, so it's very short overall.

It was really interesting to read about Libby's struggles, considering I hadn't heard of Turner's Syndrome before and immediately wanted to know more about it. It was really enjoyable (it isn't enjoyable knowing that people have medical conditions and disabilities, but it's enjoyable to me to read stories about people with medical conditions and/or disability) to read Libby's story. It's a story that isn't very common, and it's also very personal, which I love. I love stories that feel as if they evoke an emotion, both to the reader and the author when they wrote it.

I'm glad this book exists, and I'm hoping that other girls with Turner Syndrome read it and saw themselves in Libby. I hope that they connected and related to her on some level, because I know that if I read a book about a child with my condition (as long as it wasn't handled poorly), I'd feel heard and not alone.

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The main focus in this book is Libby's family. Her older sister is pregnant, and Libby is worried that her baby will end up like her (Libby was born with a heart defect; there were more details about other things, but I don't want to spoil the book or give a false definition). 

Libby decides she is going to enter a Women in STEM contest held by the Smithsonian with a project on Cecilia Payne, the first woman (and person) who discovered that stars were primarily made of hydrogen and helium (Henry Norris Russell [who originally dissuaded Cecilia from her conclusion because it would contradict the scientific consensus at the time] was originally credited with the discovery, despite the fact that he credited her in his paper). 

The winner of this contest will receive 25,000 dollars, which Libby wants to use to help her sister and brother-in-law with their financial struggles, among other things. 

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Overall, I really loved this book and I rated it a 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. It's actually a very educational book on things such as Turner Syndrome and women in science, among many other things. 

I don't think it handled anything too heavily, but it also didn't cover things too lightly. It seemed to be the perfect balance. I wish I could've read this book when I was in one of my disability moods at the beginning of the pandemic, but I've read it now and I'm glad I own a copy.

That's it for this review! 

I hope you enjoyed it! 

See you Thursday, 

Lexi K🖌