It’s a near-future science fiction story, but it reads like a contemporary novel. Ancrum’s signature poetic style, this slow-burn romance will have you savoring every page.ĭespite its title, The Weight of the Stars isn’t a book about the stars, but rather about the people with their feet firmly on the earth. And its up to Ryann to lift her onto the roof day after day until the silence between them grows into friendship, and eventually something more. After a horrific accident leaves Alexandria with a broken arm, the two misfits are brought together despite themselves-and Ryann learns her secret: Alexandria’s mother is an astronaut who volunteered for a one-way trip to the edge of the solar system.Įvery night without fail, Alexandria waits to catch radio signals from her mother. One day she meets Alexandria: a furious loner who spurns Ryann’s offer of friendship. So Ryann becomes her circumstances and settles for acting out and skipping school to hang out with her delinquent friends. But a career in space isn’t an option for a girl who lives in a trailer park on the wrong side of town. So thank you, Kayla Ancrum and The Weight of the Stars.Ryann Bird dreams of traveling across the stars. We all have something to lose, but, as The Weight of the Stars shows us, we also have so much to give. There are stark depictions of grief, and there are equally as straightforward moments of healing, although that process may be slow and difficult. I love that book because of its friendship and its musings on identity and being “enough.” On a similar thread, I love The Weight of the Stars because of its assertion that there is more to build even after constantly looking back on your past.
If you’ve been around, you might’ve seen that I mention the graphic novel Himawari House a lot. I believe this story is vital for teens to read, especially those grieving or living in the wake of generational trauma and the mistakes of others (which, to be honest, is most of us, if not all). These teens grow beyond what life pounded into them, and they do so with one another. What we love, what we lose, what we forge despite the trauma we experience. It is an emotional journey to read The Weight of the Stars, and it is a raw illumination on humanity. There are not enough words in the English language to describe what this book means to me.
She is a character so filled with love and understanding. They were pulled together by Ryann Bird, who leaves no one behind. Ancrum writes in her author’s note, “throttle their trauma,” and they do so with the others surrounding them. But this…this one is found-family to its absolute core. You know I love found-family I will melt every time I find a book with it. I have never read a book quite like The Weight of the Stars.
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