Every Soul a Star

Explore the symbolism of each of Moon Shadow’s tourist sites, which Ally calls The Unusuals. How does each site contribute to an understanding of the novel’s theme about growing up?

Define the importance of change in the novel as a coming-of-age narrative. How do each of the three narrators change? How do they help each other in that difficult process?

Research the history of the solar eclipse. How have our perceptions of the astronomical event changed over the centuries? How does the event lend itself to spiritual, even religious connotations? What exactly happens to the kids during the eclipse?

Review the 1980s film The Breakfast Club, whose plot Mass references in Every Soul a Star. The film showed that kids who are apparently entirely different in fact share much in common. Compare and contrast that movie’s message with the ensemble narrative here. Does it matter that the kids in Mass’s novel are much younger?

Investigate the thematic and symbolic implications of the novel’s title using the epigraph from Plato that begins the novel.

How does the novel use science? Research the positives and negatives of the STEM curriculum as an educational model and then explore how science comes to change each principal character. Use the role of the science teacher, Mr. Silver, as part of the analysis.

Using each of the three narrators as examples, argue which is more important in the development of an adolescent: friends or family.

Discuss the emotional and psychological impact of the transition from elementary school to middle school with examples from the three narrators’ stories.