Black Star

I would not read this book again. Here's why, most of the book is extremely boring. It is a girl who likes baseball and a family. That's it for most of the of book. There is also a huge build up to a small base ball game after church, its just not very exciting. I also don't like how the book is written in poems because I found it was hard to follow the story so I ended up just reading it as a normal book. However, the end is not boring at all. Charley decides to play base ball on a 'white people only field' and ends up getting her family in great danger and ends having to move away. This part o the book represent the racism in the south of America in the 1950s. That's very interesting.

billy

Norwich School Carnegie Shadowers

Black Star Kwame Alexander I think Black Star by Kwame Alexander was actually a really good book even though at first I thought it was gonna be boring. The story was interesting and had loads of action and emotional bits that made me want to keep reading. The characters felt real and some of the things that happened to them were sad but also inspiring. I liked how the author used poetry and different writing styles because it made the book feel faster and more exciting instead of just loads of long paragraphs that make your brain hurt. One of the best things about the book was how it talked about important stuff like family, identity, and trying to survive difficult situations. Sometimes the language was a bit confusing and I had to reread parts, but mostly it was easy to understand. The ending was also really powerful and made me think about the characters after I finished the book. Overall, I would give this book like an 8/10 because it was emotional, exciting, and not as boring as some books we read in school. I would recommend it to people who like stories that are serious but still entertaining.

Ben

Norwich School Carnegie Shadowers

I loved Black Star a lot. I am a very firm lover of verse novels, and the title is really nice. It wasn't that long of a read, and I loved the character dynamics, especially Sox and Cool Willie Green's relationship with Charley. I really like that it tackles racism and femininity and has a strong determined personality. Five stars!

Kayla

SCD Pageturners

Black Star by Kwame Alexander This book isn’t one I would pick up straight away and it wasn’t easy to start but as you got into it you wanted to know more about how Charley started her baseball career. In some parts of the book I got a bit bored and wanted to put it down but just when I wanted to put the book down I got caught up with it again. This book is very inspirational as Charley is making her baseball journey to going pro. And she faces challenges being the first black female baseball player so that wasn’t easy for her. The book felt real too because there where people supporting Charley all the way and somewhere putting her down. In conclusion I really enjoyed this book and it was very inspirational.

alice

Norwich School Carnegie Shadowers

My Review On Black Star By Kwame Alexander The start of the book encouraged me to read on because it is not a style of book that I would normally read so it intrigued me. I think the pace of the book is quite hard to follow as it changes quite a lot. I think the world has created a compelling and conceivable place and yes I could immerse myself in this book because it has different writing styles and techniques which are interesting to read and to learn about. I also think that Kwame Alexander adds character to his writing for example ‘and he always leaves me hanging on the edge of a cliff’ in the book the words are placed in a cliff shape. I also think some of the book is quite sexiest because in the book Charley is set on to become the first female pitcher in professional baseball and some of her family and friends don’t believe she can as she is a black girl.

Annabelle

Norwich School Carnegie Shadowers

Black Star by Kwame Alexander is honestly one of the best books I’ve read so far this year. It’s got lots of energy and adventure, but is also very heartfelt. The main character, Charley (or whoever it is in your version), is just trying to get into a baseball team but can't mainly because she is a black woman and ,at the time of the book being set, it would’ve been very hard to do as racism and sexism were a lot more common back in the time that this book is set . The way Kwame Alexander writes just pulls you in, like you’re actually with the characters. His writing has this musical vibe, which makes sense because he’s a poet. In my opinion,one of the best parts is how real the characters are made to feel. For example, they talk and act like teenagers and not some weird version of a teenager that adults make up. The friendships and family parts feel real, and some of the emotional moments hit hard without getting weird with action. It makes you think, but you’re never bored. Another thing I loved was the writing style. The short chapters and fast pace keep the story moving, so it never gets boring. I read a lot of the book in one sitting because every chapter made me want to know what happened next . The language is creative and full of rhythm—sometimes it almost feels like rap or spoken word poetry. That makes it stand out from most books. If I had to say what could be better, I think some parts felt a little rushed. There were scenes that I wished had more depth or more time to explain what the characters were thinking. Also, some of the poetry was kind of confusing at first, like I had to reread a few lines to properly understand it. And I think the ending could’ve lasted a little longer, because it felt like everything wrapped up too fast. Overall, I’d rate Black Star an 8 out of 10. It’s exciting, emotional, and really powerful. Kwame Alexander has a way of writing that makes reading feel alive. Anyone who likes books with strong characters and cool writing styles should really check it out.

nicky

Norwich School Carnegie Shadowers

‘Black Star’ is a poetic story with a darker undertone of segregation, violence and sexism. Set in the 1920’s deep south of America, the story immers you in the hopes and dreams of Charlie, an African American girl who is set making history as the first professional female baseball player. Kwame Alexander wrote and presented ‘Black Star’ in an evocative, atmospheric and fluid style that made it a compelling and unique read. Nana Kofi’s wisdom and magnetic storytelling are a vital part of ‘Black Star’ and contribute to the generally warm feeling of the book. However, as the book gains pace the tension builds a sense of foreboding leading up to the ending crescendo, which was a dramatic twist full of uncertainty. However, the ending felt inconclusive as many of the key storylines of seeking education, friendship/romance and family are left unresolved. In conclusion ‘Black Star’ succeeds due to the relevant and important story it tells and the playful yet powerful style it is written in.

Katherine

Norwich School Carnegie Shadowers

Black Star-Kwame Alexander The book is set in the early 20th century in The United States Of America. It follows a young girl called Charley who loves baseball and dreams of one day playing in the professional league. The book dives deep into the protected characteristic of race and the racial segregation she and her family and friends experience. This is shown by the main sub story of the book which is about Charley and her friends playing against the bullies in a baseball match at mosquito park (where they usually play) which is where the church picnic is happening so they dare to cross into the “white” section of the town where they play the match at the much better maintained “white people field” and they get caught by some white boys who call the police. The book also dives into the relationship she has with her Nana. The ending is very sad as they have to run away to another city, but it sets the plot up perfectly to send you into a sequel book.

Freddie

Norwich School Carnegie Shadowers

The book Black Star written by Kwame Alexander is a book about a girl, Charlie who wants to pursue her dreams of becoming a pro baseball player despite facing racism in America. One day Charlie secretly went to play on a baseball pitch that was restricted to “white only” with her friends as she made a deal with a bully named Cecil that if he won, he gets Charlie’ s Baltimore black Sox hat and if Charlene won Cecil would have to give her a quarter. Unfortunately, after the game when only Charlene and Willie green were left some white boys came over and said that they were not supposed to be there and threatened them. They settled it with a game of baseball and if Charlene striked the white boy Paul out they can leave but if not, Paul gets Willie Green's bat. Unintentionally, Charlene hit Paul in the chest and Paul threatened that he will get his dad on them… What I liked about this book was that this book doesn’t have long paragraphs but instead it has a poem like structure, this book also educated me about how dreadful racism was in America. Overall, the read was short, and I would recommend to read this book if you are a person who enjoys sport stories, and is interested in history especially racism and segregation.

Karol

Norwich School Carnegie Shadowers

I really enjoyed reading this book and leaning about how differently people treated each other based on their gender and race it was really interesting to read all the short storied inside this book too as it told a completely different story story inside the cover of one single book, my favourite part of this book was reading the stories about how her nana was living in Africa and how in 3 generations things had changed so much for them

Ruan

Norwich School Carnegie Shadowers

Black Star by Kwame Alexander tells the story of the challenges facing 12-year-old Charley Cuffy growing up in southern America in the 1920s. The story is written in verse making it short and snappy helping to get across the characters’ voices and emotions so you get to feel the impact of racial discrimination that Charley and her family must face. The story follows Charley who dreams of becoming the first black female pitcher in baseball, and the style of writing gives the reader an insight into her struggles by being direct and focusing on short sentences so you are almost hearing and feeling Charley’s thoughts. The vivid description of racial discrimination – the fact that that Charley isn’t allowed to play on the new baseball pitch – helps to keep the reader engaged. I loved how the stories from Charley’s grandfather, Kofi, and the bravery of his ancestors, helped inspire her to fight the injustices she faced.

Berti

Norwich School Carnegie Shadowers

Black Star is a powerful book with themes like identity, family and finding your place. This book is written in a poetic style which gives it a stronger feeling to it. In Black Star, the story is told by a third-person narrator focused on Kofi. I believe that Kwame Alexander chose this narrative to present Kofi’s thoughts and to give a wider view of everything happening, and to give the readers a better understanding of the historical significates of what Kwame Alexander is writing about. The characters in this book are shown as brave but also scared and venerable at times, they show a lot of strength and bravery but there are times were they have to face their fears which makes them vulnerable at times during the book. We can understand the way they act, speak or think because this is shaped by their culture, relationships and even trauma. In this book we often see their thoughts, so this shows us why they make the decision they do even if there the wrong or difficult ones to make. The characters are engaging because the characters feel real witch makes the readers able to connect with them with there on strugglers. Overall, with this is helps make the readers feel involved in the story.

Lydia

Norwich School Carnegie Shadowers

I enjoyed this book. I liked how it wasn't all upfront, but rather relied on undertones and inference to get the message across. It further immersed me in Charley's perspective as she's a child who doesn't fully understand the world around her and why it acts like that. It's my first book written in verse, and while I didn't particularly like it (the verse), I'm open to more. What really stood out to me was the format of the words. When it was hard for her to breathe, the kerning between the letters (b r e a t h e) was wider. There was so much space in between, yet she couldn't find the space for oxygen. It really played out her thoughts. Another prime example is Nana Kofi was talking about a detour. The words on the page were arranged in a zigzag. The words just... change in size, add up, repeat and move on the page. It's incredibly creative, and I'd love to see more books with this kind of word layout! I also love the representation. I'm sure many people relate to Charley and her experiences, whether it be race, gender or just discrimination. I certainly do. Overall, I think it's a good book. I'm not going to say the plot itself was what made me enjoy it, but I don't think it matters. The message itself and the way it was portrayed makes me give this book a solid four stars.

Rida

HGS Book Club

The book Black Star is a well layed out book for someone with patience. The pages themselves are written in a kind of poem form, with not too much writing on them, and also around 370 pages. The book is about a twelve year old girl called Charly who likes baseball. She spends time with her grandfather as he talks to her about their families past, as they lived when the world wasn’t fair. People thought a girl, especially a black girl, couldn’t play baseball. Charlie kept dreaming and believing in herself despite all of the hate and discourage she got from people, keeping the courage from those in her family and who care next to her. I think the book was alright, but I found that nothing really happened in a way I could remember, only a few details have stuck to me. Overall the book was heartwarming, but not my favourite kind of book.

ophelia

Norwich School Carnegie Shadowers

The ‘Black Star’ novel, shortlisted for the Carnegies, is a very strong contender for the award. Its hard-hitting themes blend well with the down-to-earth protagonist, connecting us with Charlie in quite an intimate way as she navigates the uneven world the story is set in. Its use of poetic verse to illustrate stresses and pauses perfectly aligns with the book's short plot and structure; being told in first person is the choice that connects this point most. The many interludes of shifts in writing style throughout the book flow extremely well with the overall tone of the story; the writer of the account simply believes it will convey their meaning more effectively. All of the characters had great potential for chemistry, and you definitely get to witness that taking place on many occasions, and I believe it is the part of the book which shines the most. The way the characters interact with each other, especially between Charlie and everyone else, takes the book to a whole other level of understanding of human relations.

Santiago

Norwich School Carnegie Shadowers

The book is based around a girl who wants to be a professional baseball player but finds it extremely difficult because of the bias against women in sport. The plot is engaging because it is life like; the writer allows you to experience empathy with the main character. The opening page made me want to read on because I wanted to find out more about the girl that could throw so fast that her arm was a cannon. The pace at the opening was really fast and the action made me want to read quickly and scan ahead. However things slowed down in the middle of the story and I would have liked the author to involve more characters to give the plot greater depth and interest. There wasn't a particular sense of build up but I can very much imagine myself in the American South and in the life of Charlene. It is life like and written in a way that isn't magical, fantasy or far fetched. Themes that are explored include racial biases based around women in baseball and more generalised sexism issues. There is sufficient exploring of the difficulties Charlene faced and I had good space to take on board her difficulties. The story is told by Charlene. For example, Charlene writes, 'Nana showed me ........' The language transports me to the time and place of the events; Charlene, the main character speaks to the reader directly and the language is very accessible. The language is poetic and contains many similes and metaphors and is in poetic stanzas. Unusually however, it carries the plot well.

Reuben

Norwich School Carnegie Shadowers

Black Star follows the story of Charlene 'Charley' Cuffey. A determined 12 year old in America (with origins in Upper Kwanta/Ghana) during the 1920s . it takes you along her journey as she struggles with racism and segregation whilst trying to pursue her dream in becoming the first female baseball player. Black Star is the second in it's series and Charley is the grand-daughter of Kofi the protagonist of Door of No Return (the first book). The book is a verse novel and shows the story from Charley's eyes in poem form. Whilst effective the storyline could become quite confusing in some places. The representation of Charley is quite relatable as she is a girl trying to fight for her passion even if the present day has less racist struggles. Interestingly at the beginning of some chapters Nana Kofi shares his story with Charley. It gives insights on what happened to Kofi after the end of Door of No Return however you don't need to read the first book to understand Black Star. I love the link between the two books as you find out about Kofi's story whilst following his grand-daughter on her own adventure,struggles and you see how his life impacts hers. This book is emotional and will touch your heart. I would recommend this book to readers aged 11-14 who enjoy verse novels with historical fiction and a touch of adventure.

Lara

SCD Pageturners

Charley at 12 years old is trying to become the first ever female pitcher to play in the 1920s as a professional. People tell her it’s a great dream to have but never take her seriously, whilst her being a black girl in South America. Charley kept believing and trying with her grandfather’s encouraging stories, this was the reason Charley always dreams big. American people did not treat Charley and her family as equal individuals, with Charley and her grandfather being shouted racial comments on the sidelines of the field. Charley showed perseverance and equality and keeps on going, even though society treats her and her family unfairly. I’m my opinion, this book made me quite inspired, but on the other hand very emotional by the book giving a strong message about always keep going and don’t give up. The writer really made you feel if you were there in the moment. I found it slightly more challenging to read due to how the book was laid out. Overall I enjoyed and would recommend this book.

Sebastian

Norwich School Carnegie Shadowers

The Black Star. What an interesting way to write a book. I like how it is written in poem but I feel there could be more words in each line as I feel the chapters end in a breeze. Apart from that it is a brilliant read. I love how it just hooks me in to reading it and once I started I just couldn't stop! It was like I needed to find out more about the the dad, Nana's stories and I just found that as a brilliant way to write a book as it hooks the reader into wanting to find out more. the plot was like a water slide! Without spoiling too much I can say parts of it were fast and other parts (the parts that hooked you in) were an angering slowness (in a good way) as you just wanted to find out more. As the book progressed I felt it started to get a bit repetitive with what they did but I also felt my understanding of the characters grew more and more which was nice but it meant I started to loose the urge to read so much. If I had to choose one thing to deeply criticise it would be the ending. In this type of book I would expect a happy, not so rushed ending, but I can expect away as it was quite the opposite. It made me sad that it ended so bleakly but that would have been fine if not for how quickly it ended. It just felt like a rollercoaster that started really fun, then started to make you wonder when it would end as the roller coaster started to repeat itself, and then once it finally started to change back up again and you star to enjoy it, it suddenly stopped. All in all it was an amazing read that I would happily recommend to someone who used for a recommendation. I would give it a rating of 4.2 stars.

Henry Drew

Norwich School Carnegie Shadowers

In my opinion I really enjoyed reading this book, Black Star. The plot was very fast and easy to get hooked onto with a quite sad ending. What I really liked about this book was how easy to read it was. The book switches up between dialogue, the storyline and events really frequently and they’re all labeled. Another thing I liked was the way the book was written and the uses of different sentence types, such as short lines that feel like verse or poetry. This made parts of the story more interesting and emotional to read, and it helped show the main characters emotions more clearly. This made the novel more unique compared to other books I have read. I also enjoyed the characters in this book, although I think some of them should have been developed more. The main character of this book was very strong and determined, which makes her easy to admire and like. The main themes of this book are racism inequality and perseverance. The story shows a girl who tries to pursue her dreams in baseball while facing racism and fights to prove herself. Overall I really enjoyed this book and it was a very easy read, the characters were all very likeable and inspiring however I do wish some plots and characters were explained further.

Constance

Norwich School Carnegie Shadowers

I found this book interesting, but also very sad. I enjoyed the element of poetry, as I could dip in and out of the book without having to read full chapters. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read.

Jack

Epsomians