When their self-absorbed mother deserts them, eleven-year-old Angel and her younger brother are left with their frail great grandmother. With her father in jail, Angel must face the reality of her new role as head of the family and the terror of beginning a new school. As she struggles to care for her brother and keep her family situation from the authorities, she finds her only peace with a mysterious man who shares with her the wonder of the stars.

The Same Stuff as Stars was read by Kaitlin O’Neal
Kaitlin has appeared in more than twenty stage productions across the United States, most recently as “Bella” in the Triad Stage presentation of Angel Street. She holds an MFA from the Professional Theatre Training Program of the University of Delaware. Kaitlin has a number of special skills and interests, including crochet and T’ai Chi; but she truly impressed the Camel’s Hump Radio crew with her skill at sounding like an angry beaver.

What do YOU think?

What did learning about the stars give Angel?

What was your favorite part of the book?

How did the story make you feel?

Angel found several adults to help guide her. Who were they and how did they help her?

Do you think Angel, Bernie and Verna will stay together as a family?

Have you ever felt small and insignificant? What did you do to overcome that feeling?

Did you like how the book ended? Why?

Fun & Adventure Beyond the Book

Find out more about Katherine Paterson by visiting her website. You’ll learn what inspires her to create such memorable characters, why she loves to write about Japan and much more!

Did Angel inspire you to learn more about the stars? Kidsastronomy.com has all sorts of photos and information about the stars, galaxies and our solar system. Be sure to check out their “How Big is the Universe” page – it is cool!

You can also check out a cool new astronomy photo every day. Check out how fascinating our universe is!

Katherine Paterson quoted from Robert Frost’s poem “Take Something Like a Star.” Frost is one of America’s most beloved poets. If you’d like to read more of his poetry, check your library. You can also read some of his poems on a fan website.



If You Like This Book, Check Out...

Katherine Paterson has written a number of great books including: Bridge to Terabithia, Jacob Have I Loved, The Great Gilly Hopkins, and Of Nightingales That Weep…and more! Why not read them all and compare her earlier books to her more recent ones?

Cleaver, Vera. Where the Lilies Bloom. Lippincott, 1969.
Mary Call has promised her dying father to keep her brother and sisters together forever on the mountain, and never to take any help from strangers, but then winter comes, fast and furious, and Mary Call has to learn that the land where the lilies bloom is also a cruel and unforgiving place, and it may take more than a promise to keep her family together.

Cushman, Karen. Rodzina. Clarion, 2003.
A twelve-year-old Polish American girl is boarded onto an orphan train in Chicago with fears about traveling to the West and a life of unpaid slavery.

Hahn, Mary Downing. Hear the Wind Blow. Clarion, 2003.
With their mother dead and their home burned, a thirteen-year-old boy and his little sister set out across Virginia in search of relatives during the final days of
the Civil War.

Hermes, Patricia. Mama, Let’s Dance. Little, Brown, 1991.
Abandoned by their mother after the death of their father, three youngsters are determined to keep their situation a secret so that the authorities will not split them up and send them to foster homes.

Voigt, Cynthia. Dicey’s Song. Atheneum, 1983.
Now that the four abandoned Tillerman children are settled in with their grandmother, Dicey finds that their new beginnings require love, trust, humor, and courage.