The Stars

Yakov, the oldest child in an Orthodox Jewish family, lives in Montreal with his family where his father owns a grocery store. Yakov is responsible for taking his three sisters to the park every day and helping his father in the store, a business which he is expected to take over one day. Yakov, however, has other dreams. He is enamored with all things space. He dreams of being an astronaut; of going “the Moon, to Mars, to Titan, or to Ganymede.”

One day at the park, he notices a pretty girl wearing a headscarf and also reading a book about space while her brothers played around her. Aicha and her family had just moved into the house behind Yakov’s. Soon they become inseparable; “like twin stars.” They introduce each other to foods and experiences the other hasn’t had before and explore their neighbourhood. Yakov is aware that their friendship is being noticed by others in the community, but he doesn’t care because he has a best friend.

Unfortunately, one evening Aicha’s veil slips and her father catches her with a boy with her glorious hair uncovered. After that, everything changes. Aicha no longer comes to the park; the families forbid their friendship, and a wall is built between their properties. Yakov is “o-blit-er-ated.” Then, Aicha’s family moves.

The narrative fast-forwards the reader through Yakov’s journey into adulthood. Yakov realizes his lifelong dream to become a scientist working with NASA where he builds space probes. At an astronomy conference, he meets Aicha again. This joyful reunion allows them to continue the original trajectory of their relationship.

I love a picture book where the illustrations and text complement each other and together tell the story. This is the case in The Stars. It feels grounded in a specific time and place. The illustrations provide the context for the text. The reader is immersed in a specific Montreal neighbourhood full of cultural diversity and expectations. The expressions on the faces help the reader to understand that this burgeoning friendship is unusual while showing us around the various sights, including the library, stores, and park. The illustrations provide the cultural setting that Yakov does not tell the reader as he narrates his story of love. The pen and watercolour washes also beautifully illustrate the imaginations and yearnings of Yakov.

The Stars is a love story that transcends the differences that can exist between cultures. It is also a love story for science. Both Aicha and Yakov ultimately find their respective places in the stars, which is where they always longed to be. It is a wonderful example of acceptance and friendship. I struggled, however, with the underlying message that this happy ending was made possible through cultural assimilation. At the end of the story, Yakov and Aicha are happy in their careers and in their mutual relationship, but there are no religious/cultural symbols present; both the headscarf and the kippah were left behind in their childhoods. A necessary absence for the story’s happy ending, but it left me feeling melancholy.

The Stars is the translation of the 2019 book, Les étoiles, which won the 2020 Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse.