Tethered to Other Stars

Leahy, Elisa Stone. Tethered to Other Stars
October 3, 2023 by Quill Tree
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Wendy and Tom Toledo's family have moved from Melborn, where ICE was conducting random raids, to Columbus, Ohio. They've bought a very run down house that their father hopes to renovate. Wendy is okay with the move, since she can tell how upset her parents were, and she's glad to be going to Leopold Preparatory School, which is specifically for able and talented students. They even partner with the planetarium at Ohio State University. Since Wendy is passionate about astronomy, she is glad to attend. She meets several nice kids there, including Etta, whose mother is the pastor of the church next door to the Toledos, K.K. who has a background in student government, and Mal, who takes the time to explain the other kids to Wendy. She also meets Brett, whom she thinks is kind of cute. Other students, like Avery and B.J., are very unkind and seem to have parents who do not like that the school has become more diverse. At home, Dulce Toledo struggles with getting the house cleaned and repaired, and Wendy realizes that while her mother used to go out to work, she has been staying at home more. She is also very concerned that the family does not get involved with Etta's church. Luz, a woman who has been struggling with immigration for years, has taken sanctuary in the church because the ICE agents are trying to remove her. Etta seems to find this exciting, but Etta finds pretty much EVERYTHING exciting. (Don't we all know those middle school students who are "a little much"?) Wendy is perfectly happy to ignore the events in her neighborhood, but her brother Tom isn't. He even quits the cross country team to get involved in issues of social justice. Wendy does help K.K. run for student council, and her new friend group is dismayed at how K.K. is treated when her campaign poster is defaced. When Etta and Wendy find some papers in Wendy's new attic bedroom, Wendy starts to have some questions about her parents' background. She was always told that her father was born in South Carolina, and he very vehemently tells the family (around the mandatory dinner table, which I loved!) that Luz' immigration status is of no interest to them at all because they "did things the right way". Wendy has to deal with a host of microaggressions from Brett and his friends, and is not happy when he handles a project they are working on in a particularly inappropriate way. WHen her family's past comes to light, however, Wendy has bigger issues to worry about. 

Strengths: Wendy is an engaging character who has many interests. While the main plot of the story revolves around issues of immigration status, I love that it is well grounded in Wendy's daily life of going to school, making friends, and dealing with a crush. Too often, middle school books ignore the details of school life in favor of larger issues. This makes sense, but it makes a book so much better when my students can identify with Wendy's crush, or her science fair project. It's easier for them to be empathetic about her larger problems when they know they share her smaller ones. The Toledos are a close knit family, albeit one hiding some big secrets. Tom is a great older brother, and his interests are somewhat different from Wendy's, which makes sense because he is older. I get the feeling that Wendy has been pretty unaware of a lot of sociopolitical issues up until the family moves to Ohio, which makes perfect sense because she is just entering 7th grade. The story moves along quickly, and gets more and more interesting! 

Weaknesses: I loved that Mamá has "good" Tupperware as well as yogurt and sour cream containers that she uses around home, but I have a 35 year margarine container that hasn't lost any of the lettering on the side. What is Mamá DOING with these containers? While the parents speak Spanish, and all of Wendy's classmates' and teachers' cultural ties are clearly mentioned (Mal has a Korean grandmother, the art teacher is Black, Etta is gay and vocal about it), Wendy's family's background is skirted around. There are reasons for this, but I have a lot of students, especially Latine ones, who want books with characters from very specific countries. If I can show them the country of interest on the book flap, they get very excited. Not a weakness as much as a missed opportunity. (Her father is from el Salvador and her mother is from Guatemala.)
What I really think: This is blurbed as being similar to Cisneros' Efrén Divided and Ramee's A Good Kind of Trouble, which for once is pretty accurate! I would also recommend this to readers who enjoyed Cervantes' Gaby, Lost and Found, Rose's Look Both Ways in the Barrio Blanco, Sloan's The Elephant in the Room and Hitchcock and Senzai's Flying Over Water.

If there is actually a "Rooville" in Columbus, I don't know about it, but there was definitely a major case involving a woman taking sanctuary in a local church.