The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore
My Twenty-First book for ljbookbingo is The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore for the YA Square, table found here:
It’s Christmas Eve in Harlem, but twelve-year-old Lolly Rachpaul and his mom aren’t celebrating. They’re still reeling from his older brother’s death in a gang-related shooting just a few months earlier. Then Lolly’s mother’s girlfriend brings him a gift that will change everything: two enormous bags filled with Legos. Lolly’s always loved Legos, and he prides himself on following the kit instructions exactly. Now, faced with a pile of building blocks and no instructions, Lolly must find his own way forward. His path isn’t clear-and the pressure to join a “crew,” as his brother did, is always there. When Lolly and his friend are beaten up and robbed, joining a crew almost seems like the safe choice. But building a fantastical Lego city at the community center provides Lolly with an escape-and an unexpected bridge back to the world. David Barclay Moore paints a powerful portrait of a boy teetering on the edge-of adolescence, of grief, of violence-and shows how Lolly’s inventive spirit helps him build a life with firm foundations and open doors. ~Amazon Book Description
This was such a good book. Wallace who is better known as Lolly to his friends is a preteen who recently lost his elder brother to gang violence. So he is dealing with a lot of pain, grief, and anger. Also he is being pressured to join the local gang, or run the risk of continuing to get beat up by a rival gang. So Lolly has a lot on his plate, and a lot of decisions to make about where he goes from here. I really loved this story. Lolly is a sweetheart who is dealing with so much. He has his mom and her girlfriend and his father who is around at times to lean on plus his friend Vega but he is still struggling. I loved the journey the author has Lolly go on in order to heal and figure out how to move on without making the wrong decisions. I would highly recommend this story.
This entry was originally posted at https://under-the-silk-tree.dreamwidth.org/55057.html
It’s Christmas Eve in Harlem, but twelve-year-old Lolly Rachpaul and his mom aren’t celebrating. They’re still reeling from his older brother’s death in a gang-related shooting just a few months earlier. Then Lolly’s mother’s girlfriend brings him a gift that will change everything: two enormous bags filled with Legos. Lolly’s always loved Legos, and he prides himself on following the kit instructions exactly. Now, faced with a pile of building blocks and no instructions, Lolly must find his own way forward. His path isn’t clear-and the pressure to join a “crew,” as his brother did, is always there. When Lolly and his friend are beaten up and robbed, joining a crew almost seems like the safe choice. But building a fantastical Lego city at the community center provides Lolly with an escape-and an unexpected bridge back to the world. David Barclay Moore paints a powerful portrait of a boy teetering on the edge-of adolescence, of grief, of violence-and shows how Lolly’s inventive spirit helps him build a life with firm foundations and open doors. ~Amazon Book Description
This was such a good book. Wallace who is better known as Lolly to his friends is a preteen who recently lost his elder brother to gang violence. So he is dealing with a lot of pain, grief, and anger. Also he is being pressured to join the local gang, or run the risk of continuing to get beat up by a rival gang. So Lolly has a lot on his plate, and a lot of decisions to make about where he goes from here. I really loved this story. Lolly is a sweetheart who is dealing with so much. He has his mom and her girlfriend and his father who is around at times to lean on plus his friend Vega but he is still struggling. I loved the journey the author has Lolly go on in order to heal and figure out how to move on without making the wrong decisions. I would highly recommend this story.
This entry was originally posted at https://under-the-silk-tree.dreamwidth.org/55057.html