If she wins the grand prize and gives all that money to Nonny's family, then the baby will be perfect. So she strikes a deal with the universe: She'll enter a contest with a project about Cecilia Payne, the first person to discover what stars are made of. Nonny and her husband are in a financial black hole, and Libby knows that babies aren't always born healthy. When her big sister Nonny tells her she's pregnant, Libby is thrilled-but worried. But she has lots of people who love her, and that makes her pretty lucky. Libby was born with Turner Syndrome, and that makes some things hard. She's not great at playing piano, sitting still, or figuring out how to say the right thing at the right time in real life. Twelve-year-old Libby Monroe is great at science, being optimistic, and talking to her famous, accomplished friends (okay, maybe that last one is only in her head). Allen is a remarkable new voice in children’s fiction.From debut author Sarah Allen comes a pitch-perfect, heartwarming middle grade novel about growing up, finding yourself, and loving people with everything you're made of. What Stars Are Made Of is a tender portrait of a compassionate heroine trying to make things right in her universe and in the lives of the people she loves. In her stunning debut middle grade novel, Allen, who was also born with Turner syndrome, explores themes of family loyalty and personal resilience and resolve, wrapping them up in a clever story of science, how the universe works and how stars can truly guide the way. If she gets her wish, Libby reasons, “Instead of missing a piece in my own body, I’d fix a missing piece in the lives of the people I loved.”
If Libby wins and gives the money to her sister, the universe will ensure that her niece will be born healthy and not share any of the challenges Libby herself experiences. That’s where Libby’s deal with the universe comes in. So when she enters a science contest with an entry about her favorite scientific figure-Cecelia Payne, the woman who discovered what stars are made of-she’s determined to win so that she can use the prize money to help her financially-challenged older sister. Turner syndrome makes some things more difficult for Libby, but science is not one of them. She was born with Turner syndrome, a genetic condition that means she’s missing an X chromosome. Libby is a charismatic and brainy narrator.
But rather than asking the universe for fortune or fame, she’s making an unselfish wish: She wants her niece to be born healthy. In Sarah Allen’s What Stars Are Made Of, 12-year-old Libby does just that. At one time or another, most people find themselves making a quid pro quo deal with the universe. Sarah Allen is the author of What Stars Are Made Of, Breathing Underwater, and The Nightmare House, and has also been published in The Evansville Review.
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