The Starplace

by Vicki Grove

It's the early 1960s and Frannie has never given much thought to the color of her skin—until an African-American girl named Celeste moves to town. At first Frannie ignores Celeste, then the two girls are chosen to be in a special vocal ensemble and they find themselves becoming friends. But others are not so quick to accept the idea of racial integration, and Frannie discovers a dark secret from the town's past that threatens her friendship with Celeste.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Realistic Fiction, Banned Books

224 pages, Paperback

First published June 21, 1999

About the author

Vicki Grove lives in a 100-year-old farmhouse on a few acres of land outside of Ionia, Missouri (pop. 118). Her son and daughter, Michael and J.D., attend college, and her husband Mike is a music teacher and directs a bell choir. They have lots of cats and a goldfish pond teeming with bossy, headstrong goldfish. Sharing the pond with that rambunctious crew is one gentle red-eared turtle, Yertle. Behind the house grow three cherry trees, three apple trees, a corn patch, grape vines, and, on a good year, enough strawberries for Vicki to make a dozen jars of jam.

Vicki has written for magazines ranging from Twilight Zone to Reader’s Digest. She received the 1996 SCBWI Magazine Merit Award for a story in American Girl. Altogether, she’s published about 300 articles and short stories. “Because it’s not such a huge time and energy commitment, writing a short story is kind of like eating popcorn,” she says. “Writing a book, on the other hand, is a big deal, sort of like Thanksgiving dinner. You’d get tired of snacking or feasting if you did it all the time, so I alternate!”

Eight of Vicki’s eleven books are middle grade or young adult novels for Putnam. Her most recent are Rimwalkers, Crystal Garden, Reaching Dustin, The Starplace, and Destiny. Reaching Dustin and The Starplace were School Library Journal Best Books of 1998 and 1999.

Vicki writes every day in a tiny white office her dad built in her hayfield. He modeled it on her childhood playhouse, and it has its own birdhouse (where a tree frog named Joop is living). A purple clematis vine snakes up the side of the office, and beneath it grows a white peony bush Vicki transplanted from her grandmother’s farmhouse in Illinois, the setting for Rimwalkers.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical fiction that starts out light; I actually grinned a couple of times. But there are some very serious bits, too. Focus mainly on racism, but also on sexism. Both girls are delightful, and everyone else is interesting, too. Thank goodness for the epilogue to bring back hope. All but the most sensitive readers should be able to handle it; all but the most callous will be moved.

"And if people really believed words didn't hurt you, why'd they teach their little kids that sticks-and-stones rhyme? If something didn't hurt you, you didn't have to tell yourself in a rhyme that it didn't. It just... didn't."

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, in that "90s book about racism written by white people for white people" kind of way. I would've eaten this up as a kid. As an adult, I wish we'd gotten some of Celeste's point of view. She comes across as too perfect, too patient and accepting of the constant racism and microagressions she faces. She latches on to Frannie so quickly, too, promising her eternal friendship as a "star sister", in a way that didn't really feel earned for Frannie. I don't know, I guess these days I'm just a lot more cynical and aware of the way white folks love to construct these feel-good narratives where we're the heroes in a story of racism.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was REALLY GOOD! it is about when an african american girl called Celeste moves into a town with a history of racism. She befriends the main charachter, Frannie, and they go on many adventures. it has some creepy points, but over all that just makes it more interesting! Frannie has 3 other friends, who each have their own fun personalities as well and it is so easy to connect to and like all the charachters in this book.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thirteen-year-old Francie is worrying more about entering 8th grade and how to act and what to think about boys than the Berlin Wall or whatever else her parents see on the news. It's the all important last year of Junior High and Francie and her friends want to make an impression. Then Celeste Chisolm comes to Francie's hometown of Chisolm, Oklahoma and changes everything. Celeste is "colored" and as the daughter of a wealthy man, she lives within the town limits and attends the same school as Francie and her friends. Francie is drawn to Celeste but not brave enough to befriend the girl. Soon Francie is wondering at the fairness of "restriction" and has to decide whether she can stop caring what people think long enough to make a new friend.

This book starts off a little slow. The girls are typical teens and are all consumed with image and being popular. I didn't like Francie at first but once she starts paying attention to current events, she becomes more likable and the story gets more interesting. I found Francie's parallel between the Berlin Wall = Communist and American segregation= patriotic?! or is it also akin to Communism? The topic was very very timely. The story of Celeste's great-grandfather made me sick to my stomach and terrified in light of recent events. I've read about similar stories but not so much insider information. I found all those exact details about what great-grandma Belle wrote in letters a little too coincidental. I haven't read any records from that time period so I don't really know if it's something someone would write about in that much detail. The story also deals with sexism and I couldn't even deal with the disrespect of a boss who WINKS at his secretary and refers to her as a little lady. I am baffled by why anyone would want to return this this time period.

The characters is this book are a little flat. The girls are not all that appealing at first, especially Francie's friends. Francie is a typical teen girl worried about what others think. Her friends are shallow and one of them is downright rude. Her good Christian lady act annoyed the heck out of me. Margot's fake French drove me up a wall. The only one I liked was straight talking cowgirl Kelly. Until Celeste showed up. Then the characters, especially Francie, had to figure out what they thought and what they were going to do about Celeste. I found Francie's early naivete surprising but her growth is excellent. I especially like how she deals with others' treatment of Celeste and how she learns to think about how events in far off countries affect her. I really liked Celeste. She's the only appealing teenager from the get go. She's intelligent enough to understand what's going to happen to her but still has some lessons to learn. The story of friendship is very nice and heartwarming.

Because of some graphic violence relayed through a story, I would not recommend this for young readers.

[Megan Norred · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. The different characters were interesting and it was a good plot. It’s geared toward middle school kids. It deals mostly with racism and a tiny part deals with sexism. How the friendship develops between the two girls is a little awkward. I thought back to how my closest friendships came about and maybe they were all a little weird, but I don’t think we immediately wanted to be besties.

[Kristin Grieshop · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave The Starplace a 3 out of 5. I rated this book a 3 because I felt like it was not one of the best books that I have read. There were many good parts in the book, but there were also confusing parts in it, which I did not like about the book. This book is about a girl named Frannie, who lives in Quiver, Oklahoma, and she goes to an all white school, until a colored girl her age named Celeste moves into town. There were many disadvantages of being a colored person in a town like Quiver, Celeste only has one way of solving that problem towards the end of the book. Celeste and Frannie also solve a major mystery together. I would recommend this book to any one who enjoys reading interesting novels with a major conflict in them.

[Brianna Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s incredible how far we have come, and yet still have to go when it comes to racism and sexism. This book touches on thoughts and actions present in the 1960s but also exposes early 1900s behavior towards people of color.

I recommend it for the young adult reader who wants to expand a bit deeper into what occurred in our country and how people’s view of others has changed (but still not enough). Here are some of the quotes that really stuck out to me:

Sexism:

“This here is Mrs. Caroline Driscoll, the sweetest little woman anybody ever had working for them… And she’s easy on the eyes, too” (11).
“What questions! My two pretty women are thinking way too much lately…Focus that brain power on some thing useful, okay? Like putting away last night‘s dishes” (43-44).
Her boss informed her, “I’d just be taking the job from a man, he said, and that just wouldn’t be right, to deprive some working man of a job. Why did I want to waste my assets in some back office anyway, when it was important to have a pretty little thing to greet the customers upfront? Then, he winked at me” (197).

As for the racism, there was a variety of different content that would be a lot to post here, so I suggest diving in and learning more! One quote that really stuck out to me was this one:

"I could sort of remember there being stuff about Negroes and schools in our seventh grade social studies book, but the teacher skipped over that section because none of us were Negro so we didn't need to know it" (28).

Wow, what a great example of how the truth of our society is sheltered because some people in power didn't think it needed to be learned!

She's truly ignorant of what is going on in the world, but then decides to learn more about her world and her surroundings in order to understand current events more. She also feels unpatriotic and that she is not following the Ten Commandments because she goes against what her father believes, even though she knows it's wrong to treat black people differently.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book.

[Juliana Chau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical fiction. Segregation. Brown v board of Ed. Two friends. 2000

[Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this in the 6th grade and it was my favourite book

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Books like this are always so bittersweet

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

i got this at the airport when i was like 10

[LobsterQuadrille · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Rebecca Mansfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Starplace
by Vicki Grove
“Quiver, Oklahoma, is a pretty town with an ugly past” (Grove) is maybe the biggest understatement that I’ve read about a book. When I picked up a copy of The Starplace I thought “oh a fluffy book about the 60’s for teenagers!”. I was surely mistaken. This book digs deep on the strong hatred and racism against African-American’s in the 60’s, but also lets you see the story through the eyes of youth. This book is the story of two young girls and how they become friends. It is what seems like a very ordinary plot, yet this friendship just so happens to shake an entire town. Often, when learning about this time, you only get the facts or hear about stories from adults of that time, but this is not true when talking about The Starplace. This was an excellently written story about a dark time in our country’s history, told through the eyes of two young girls in the south.

The town of Quiver is forever changed when an African American girl and her father move to town, shortly before the first day of school. Celeste and her father have moved her for reasons unknown to the town. A girl named Frannie, is intrigued by Celeste, unlike the other girls at her school. It is soon evident that these two girls have many things in common, most prominently, singing. When Celeste auditions for the choir, Frannie and the other girls are shocked to hear such an angelic voice. Frannie is also very passionate about music, and the two girls are selected to be a part of the choir. When Celeste runs away after being picked on at a party to an abandoned replica of a starship on a jungle gym, Frannie decides that she would go see if she was okay. When Frannie made that one brave move to be different and connect with Celeste, it changed her. They soon began talking and really connected. They decide that this starship, or starplace, would be a perfect spot to practice their music and talk to each other if they ever needed each other. Through this starplace, and in other places in the town, the two girls experience immense amount of hardship, racism, and a startling truths. Through all these difficulties, the girls find a way to always be there for one another, even though so many view their friendship as wrong. The struggle and purpose of this book is very clear. Should Frannie still remain friends with Celeste, even though society and all of the people she know think that it is wrong?

I personally, really enjoyed this book. It was a very easy read, yet very intriguing at the same time. There is so much history that took place in the 1960’s that is not heard of, and definitely not told through the view of a teenager. I really loved how the racism and the hard hitting truth wasn’t sugar coated. Vicki Grove did an excellent job of mixing the truth and doing it in an appropriate way for younger teens to read. I connect this book a lot with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It is the only book that I have ever read, besides this one, that shows racism from a younger perspective. In both books, a white character befriends a black character and it is about the struggles and friendships that they have.

Vicki Grove is a female author who has written articles and stories for young adult magazines such as Teen Magazine and American Girl. She has a deep passion for writing for young adults, especially girls. Many of her stories feature strong female protagonist who have to overcome something whether it be within themselves, their society, or in social justice. Many of her stories also take place in history, showing that young girls throughout time have also struggled through very similar troubles as they do. Other popular books by Vicki Grove includes Rhiannon and Everything Breaks.

In The Starplace, much of the plot revolves around what society views as right and wrong. The main character Fannie breaks much of society’s rules in the 60’s by befriending Celeste. She realizes that what society thinks is wrong, and decides to act against them. Frannie also faces a lot of pressure from her girlfriends and other people at her school to not be friends with Celeste. There are many references to class in this book as well. Many of the African-American’s who live near Quiver, all live in Minetown, where they work as miners. Celeste and her father are the first African-Americans to live in Quiver, and many people think that they don’t deserve to live in the town because of the color of their skin. I think that The Starplace is a feminist book. The story features two strong female protagonist, who break out from societies views in order to become friends and really be happy. The two must overcome many obstacles in their lives to keep their friendship intact, but it is a risk they are willing to take.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like history and I have to get a fictional book for a school project and I found the right book.

[Josephine (biblioseph) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know exactly what I was expecting when I read The Starplace by Vicki Grove again after so many years… It’s aged pretty well for a book about two girls whose friendship helps expose the history of the Ku Klux Klan in a town long segregated. There was a lot I forgot, things that obviously stuck with me which I didn’t remember, other things which did which I wasn’t happy to think of, others which made me smile.

When Frannie meets Celeste she begins growing, first in small ways, questioning segregation, and then in larger ways as when she confronts a racist business owner, but embarrasses her friend in the process. Frannie herself never has to overcome racism in her own mind, and even her family has no trouble accepting the interracial friendship, the worst it comes to for Frannie is when one of her brother’s refuses to look at Celeste because her ‘skin color is wrong.’

I thought this book did some things really well, such as introducing the horror and mythos of the Ku Klux Klan to upper middle grade readers, turning it into the spooky sort of story that really bit me as a kid and even today put a chill in me. In fact, I’ve never ever forgotten the part where Celeste takes Frannie up into her ‘haunted’ attic, I was just better able to visualize it all. I also am pretty sure I raced to the end, or finished it late at night… Or maybe when I reread it I only got to that point and stopped, because it doesn’t end.

Considering the wildfire riots going on at this time, I can’t honestly believe that only Frannie’s dad is the one to try to defend racism as ‘capitalism,’ the same way some still believe the wage gap has to do with women and people of color not ‘trying wanting it badly enough.’ I also forgot that concurrent to this was a mother who wanted to go from secretary at the real estate agency to broker.

I was also surprised to see that this book has the then equivalent of a sensitivity reader whom Vicki Grove thanks first in her acknowledgments, Evelyn Pulliam. I think it owes something to both women that the truest moment of brilliance comes out near the end: after their encounter in the bowling alley, the infamous ‘refuse service’ sign, Frannie blunders into another situation where Celeste is all too clear on the real reason. This time, however, Celeste refuses to be forced to be humiliated again and pulls out of Frannie’s grasp saying:

“Didn't you learn at the bowling alley that there are huge gaps in your understanding of what it's like to be me? I'm not going to have you holding on to me again while another white person humiliates me in public! I said let it drop, so let it drop!”

I think I owe a lot to my own understanding of racism, growing up in a mostly white town, to this book. I haven’t read the landscape recently so I can’t blanket suggest this book, especially since a book by a black author might be much better suited, but perhaps in a classroom this book still has merit, especially if taught concurrently to the events that Frannie observes on the nightly news: the Berlin Wall’s construction, discussion of race riots all across America, even the dismissal of a possibility of war in Vietnam.

The writing was good, the two girls friendship touching, and the empathy made it a harrowing read, at least for me. I shed a tear for the father who asked ‘“My cute pretty girls are both mad at me at once. I guess I'm just too dumb to get with the twentieth century, huh?” for all the fathers who are still unable to get with the 21st century.

In the end, this might still be a good place to start a discussion on racism. On the other hand, this book is almost 20 years old, and there may be better ones out there to start the discussion with your kids.

[Brittany Tanner]

The Starplace

In the small town of Quiver, Oklahoma an ugly secret lies. The early 1960s in Quiver, Oklahoma was a hard time. Frannie a 13-year-old girl never cared or thought about race in her little town. Until, an African-American girl named Celeste moves into town and goes to her school. Celeste’s father made history in the town, and bought a house where only white people had lived for years. Since Celeste was the first African-American to go to the school in that town, everyone including Frannie was mean to her. Frannie and Celeste don’t really notice each other until they both chosen to be in a special choir. They start to become friends through that experience. Many people in the town do not agree with this mix in race. This may hurt Frannie and Celeste’s friendship. Will it?

The Starplace was not the best book I’ve read. It did have its good points though. One strong point of the book , was how the author made big events happen at the end of the chapters. This strategy made me as the reader want to read more of the book. The author also used a lot of details and figurative language. This book would be better if Vicki Grove (the author) would change the setting more. I also think she should make it more exciting, so more people want to read it. I can tell from the book that the author wanted to write this, because she had something like this happen in her life. To read and understand this book you need to understand everyone has different views of people. Everyone is different and you just need to accept people as they are.

The book The Starplace had a lot of deep thought just like my last book report The Prince and the Pauper. The Prince and the Pauper was about people not liking their lives and wanting to change it. Just like in The Starplace when Frannie’s party was ruined, and she was so embarrassed and wanted to be anyone but her. Both books made people realize that being themselves is the only thing that can make them happy. They find greater things in the world and they find friends. The Prince and the Pauper was based in an old kingdom. The kingdom judged you on how rich you were, the more money the greater you were. The Starplace also judged, but not by how rich you were, but on the color of your skin. Everyone has a place in this world, so treat people with the respect they deserve.

[Maleea Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

The starplace
By: maleea Wallace

“But the starplace cannot isolate them from the racism of the town-present or past,” this was said in the book The Starplace by Vicki Grove. The quote listed at the top of the paper pretty much explains the book. The Starplace is all about accepting others and making them feel like they belong.

This book is about a girl named, Frannie Driscoll and her friends going into the eight grade. When Frannie takes a choir class a thirteen-year-old girl, Celeste Chisholm come to their school. What they do realize about her is that she is the first Negro at their Junior high. Celeste’s voice is described as in the book, “the kind of voice that makes you hold your breath and fall into a listening trance.” When Celeste and Frannie are picked to do a vocal ensemble they practice in and abandoned rocket ship. Later on they become “Starplace Sisters” and nothing, not even racism can stop them from being friends.

In this book there are many lessons to be learned and taught. The theme of this book is about accepting others no matter what race they are. Similarities from The Starplace and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are very similar. The way they wrote the book and used grammar are very similar. There are not as many differences except for that The Starplace is a historical fiction book and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a classical novel. Also they have different themes and a different story line. While I was reading this book I loved learning the themes and lessons. I recommend this book to anyone that likes a good book. Accepting others will get you far in life, that is my lesson I hope you will learn.

[Wilson Zhao · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Starplace
By: Vicki Grove
Price: $6.99
ISBN: 0-698-11868-5

This book is about racism. Its between 2 girls. It all started out when her family had to move to a new town. The main characters are Celeste and Frannie. They both didn't start out as friends because Frannie didn't accept her until they both had be partners for vocal.

This book isn't that bad. I hate racism, I hate it when people have something against another race. This is life, you have to accept whatever comes at you. I made a lot of friends, I didn't reject any, I accepted all of them. I didn't care what they were, people are people. If I was mentioned in the book as a character, I would've been against racism. Never be racist!

[Janessa King · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book when I was around 9 years old and I absolutely loved it. The Starplace helped open my eyes to how the world is and what it could be if people were accepted for who they are. I identified so much with Frannie. All the things she questioned about her town and the world were the same things I’d also questioned. This was a book that I never forgot about; I’ve though about it countless times over the years. And after 14 years, it was time to reread this beloved childhood book. I’ll admit that I was nervous it wouldn’t hold up to my expectations, but I adored it all over again and its a book I believe every child should read.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Starplace was my favorite book growing up because it mixed so many of my interests. Adolescence is scary, and so is making new friends, which was a major point in this book. Add my favorite era and some history and you have what I consider to be a solid book for young girls who love to learn in many ways.

To this day, this is the only book I've ever been able to reread. I used to stay up late and read it over and over again when I was a kid. I love reading now, but no other book had ever been able to captivate my attention more than once like this book has.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really really good. Great writing, interesting story, good characters... my only complaint is that the ending made me sad and the climax was rather anticlimactic. The climax was the story behind the house/field/cave. It was Celeste explaining them/it. Otherwise, great message and you can tell Grove did her research - the time this book took place was realistic, with her watching the news and what was going on, etc.

[Annaya♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about Celeste and her friend Frannie. This book takes place in the 1960's in Quiver ,Oklahoma. During the 1960's there were many states down south that were racially segregated. Frannie's school is all white and everything was going perfectly fine until a colored girl named Celeste enrolled in Frannie's school. This book guides you through two biracial friendship. This is a very good book.

[Kidsbookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for books for a sensitive child, ones that wouldn't be too dark or mysterious. I think my daughter will enjoy this story, if not more than I did. The characters are believable and Grove let us get to know them. This is a softer introduction to the issues of racial integration. The epilogue gives the reader the feeling that this story actually happened - it's very sweet, but not in a sappy way.

[Kendra Wynk · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Starplace was a very good. This book was about where Frannie and Celeste become very best friends. They both joined the choir at school, and they both are very good at singing. With the choir they get to go to this big singing competition, but it is very expensive and the school cannot afford to pay for the trip, but something wonderful happens to the coir program. In the book Celeste has to do something and Frannie is not happy with it at all. This book was very good to read.

[Rebecca A · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did love this book, don't get me wrong. I would have loved to see it in more detail, with a more expanded storyline. The inclusion of the KKK, a bigoted and dangerous society still well alive in the south and other places, was done flawlessly. It's a story about acceptance amd learning to think for yourself. I would highly suggest that most children read this book...especially where I live.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am currently teaching a diversity class, and am going to recommend this to my students. It does a nice job of showing the effects and the insidious reality of racism/sexism in a way that many students could relate to.

[Tattered Cover Book Store]

This book is on the bibliography of books challenged, restricted, removed or banned in 2007-2008 put out by Robert P. Doyle and the American Library Association. More info at http://www.ila.org/pdf/2008banned.pdf

[Priya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book touched my heartstrings. Being African-American myself, I've had a couple racist remarks thrown my way. I...can't think of anything to say except I hope I find my starplace and my star friend soon.

[Ariana Arevalo-losoya]

I really enjoyed reading this book. It showed how it was back when there was much more discrimination than there is now. It told the story of a girl who instantly became friends with a new African American girl in town, and how they were judged.