The Stars Beneath Our Feet

It's only been a few months since Lolly's older brother, Jermaine, died.  He's still struggling with the loss.  He's never hungry, and he just doesn't enjoy things like he used to.  He's always enjoyed building with Lego kits, and his bedroom is filled with his completed projects, but he always follows the directions exactly.

When one of his brother's old friends brings him an architecture book for Christmas, Lolly started thinking for the first time about creating his own designs.  The unexpected gift of two trash bags full of Legos from his mother's girlfriend gets him started on his own creation.

When the city gets too big for his apartment, Lolly moves to an empty room in the building where he does after school at his apartments.  The quiet and the building help to ease the ache inside him until Big Rose shows up in his private sanctuary.  Lolly doesn't really know what's wrong with her, but she's big and never talks.  Eventually, their love of building things and architecture leads to a friendship between these unlikely companions.

Lolly's growth and struggle to deal with his brother's loss and his friendship with Rose are the best parts of this book.  The issues associated with being poor and brown in New York City are not handled so well.  The book has a tendency to get heavy-handed on those topics at times. David Barclay Moore's book is still well worth purchasing for middle school library collections.