Book Review: 'PEOPLE like STARS' by Patrice Lawrence (Scholastic) For ages 9+. Reviewed by Nicci @ The Kids Books Curator — For ages 9+

A gripping, relevant, stand-alone middle-grade contemporary crime mystery (which would also make a compelling stage play I reckon) for kids aged 9+. Awesome for Year 6-7s especially.

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Judging the book by its cover, you might think ‘PEOPLE like STARS’… is this a story about theatre kids, cosmology?… is there a word missing, is this grammatically correct… of course it is, heck, I don’t know the SPaG terminology for it, but I do know Patrice Lawrence’s authorship angles, and my decades in the hiphop world alone tell me just from the cover title, this book is street, this book is going to speak to kids today, it’s keeping it REAL. ‘PEOPLE like STARS’ is a gripping, relevant, stand-alone middle-grade contemporary crime mystery (which would also make a compelling stage play I reckon) for kids aged 9+. Awesome for Year 6-7s especially.

As Patrice herself says in her backstory to the inspiration for ‘PEOPLE Like STARS’…

“What happens when you drop a true crime podcast, Vivienne Westwood and a steering sense of outrage into a blender?” Bravo - I was thinking what else to add to this, but honestly friendship, curiosity, survival, mental health crises, dysfunctional families, ageism, navigating Year 7 at secondary school… it’s covered! Patrice is a much-loved, passionate advocate for literacy for children; she is currently the BookTrust Writer in Residence; and she feels so much pain for the social injustices that our young people face today, pouring her activism and wisdom into her writing.

I noticed in the CLPE’s latest ‘Reflecting Realities’ report one of the buzz words that really stood out due to its frequency was the use of the word ‘cast’. Casting in books is more important than ever, subject to scrutiny by savvy and conscientious Children’s publishing industry advocates for authenticity, inclusivity and diversity, especially of underrepresented minority groups (e.g. LGBTQ+, low-income families, people of colour, disability) - like myself, like Patrice and so many others of course. Why do I mention this? Because it’s so vital to remind readers that they should seek out knowledge of the author, the illustrator, the backstory/lifestory which then provides guarantees that a child reading a book is getting a true representation of the cast of characters within it. For remember, unless it’s biographical, these are actually fictional characters in the narrative, made up stories to ‘edutain’ young people to feed their imaginations, their sense of wellbeing, and to nurture their sense of citizenship leading them to make the world an even better place for the next generation.

The cast of characters in ‘PEOPLE like STARS’ is pitch-perfect, a reflection of a high proportion of Year 7 secondary school classrooms and their households in the UK’s bustling towns and cities, and a growing % of rural villages too. Multi-award winning author, Patrice Lawrence herself was born in Brighton and brought up in an Italian and Trinidadian household.

So, time to pay attention… for here’s the cast list:

Ayrton lives with his mum, he’s a good kid, but suffocating from his mum’s overprotective nature and separation anxiety (think PTSD) and in turn suffers from social-anxiety himself. He was stolen as a baby, he doesn’t know why, he doesn’t know who by, he knows it caused his parents’ marriage to break up, his mum to fall apart, his life to implode like a supernova.

Stanley and Oliver are twins who live with mum and dad, they get on ok, but Stanley’s obsessed with solving the mystery of his heritage, his true DNA. Being mixed heritage, he and his bro are constantly asked ‘where they’re from’ so much so it’s become a bit of a family competition to list the most obscure suggestion from strangers… (I love this connection to Patrice’s brilliant picture book, illustrated by Diane Ewen, ‘Is that your Mama?’ also published with Scholastic) Stanley and Oliver’s mum is estranged from her own mum, so it’s really really tricky to find out anything at all!! It’s a no-go zone!!

Senna and her mum Ari are living on the edge. Ari was a young teen mum and her and Sen haven’t always had the support of family to rely on when times are tough. They hop precariously from one unstable living situation to another, always in fear of losing whatever stability they can manage. Everything is a calculated risk - having your £70 school blazer nicked - does Sen tell Ari and freak her out about how to afford to replace it, or does she repeatedly go into school isolation as punishment, do socially prejudiced school-based rules let kids like Senna down, wear them down before they’ve even seen the big wide world?

Vixen is a famous artist, she’s been around and has the tattoos to show for it. Known for her foxes, her punk rebellious style, her anonymity. The source of all the secrecy and lies, Vixen is the one member of the cast of ‘PEOPLE like STARS’ who is the gravitational pull for this literary syzygy.

So how does it all start? One November morning, Ayrton takes the bus to school… his new school, a school in the town where he was stolen as a baby, a town his mum never wanted to come back to ever. She’s only let him get the bus because it’s his birthday and he insisted. He’s not really sure he likes or can cope with this independence now he’s sitting there, and his mum’s probably having kittens and might even homeschool him again if anything goes wrong… but then, some kids in the same uniform as him are talking loudly over the passengers in the crowded bus… something about finding their mystery grandma, a grandma who stole a baby their age…

This single overheard conversation causes a powerful ripple effect that trickles through the lives of Ayrton, Stanley, and Senna, so much so that their lives will never be the same again… ultimately for the better you’ll be delighted to know. Unlikely healing friendships form, alliances are made between those who seek the truth and won’t stop until the adults in their lives face up to their pasts in what transpires as linked stories evolved from a chain of events over a decade ago.

Be blown away by Patrice Lawrence’s trade-mark brilliance in ‘PEOPLE like STARS’ - a fictional middle-grade true crime mystery with its oh so clever plot twists and turns, chaotic struggles with loyalty and justice, many clandestine trips to the library to research records, and the inter-changing narrators enabling readers to deep-dive into each character’s identity and inner struggles.

What an incredible read to start my year. It sets the middle-grade bar high for 2025 that’s for sure. Thank you Scholastic and Patrice, I’m very grateful to you for sending me an advance copy and thank you for my personalised gold star… like all great underestimated and forgotten ancient (advanced) civilisations, I’m a great believer in the alignment of the stars.