Wishing Star #18 Secrets and #19 Sisters

Wishing Star #18 Secrets, Deborah Aydt, 1981

As soon as I sat down to dinner I could tell my parents were upset.

"Something has happened," my father admitted.  "And it's pretty bad.  I've been fired."

"What are we going to do?" I whispered.

Nobody answered.

Cathy's life changes forever after that night.  She switches to a new school, and must cope with her parents' depression and anger as her father is turned away from one job after another.

Her new life holds some happy surprises though.  Cathy fits in with the kids at school, lands a job of her own, and realizes that her friend Benedict is becoming more than just a friend...

It's interesting that the title is Secrets and that the summary mentions nothing about a secret.  There is one, and the summary should have mentioned that part of the plot.

This is a very good book.

Wishing Star #19 Sisters, Audrey P. Johnson, 1982

Would it always be like this?  Would Robin always have to look out for Rae?  Give things up for her?  Robin knows she shouldn't overprotect her sister—but Rae is different...

Robin doesn't really mind moving to the little town on the St. Lawrence River.  She's not crazy about the cold weather, but she's looking forward to making new friends.  And the first one she makes is Chris, who turns out to be very special!

Everything is terrific—except for Rae.  Rae is handicapped, and so self-conscious she spends all her time alone.  Robin feels guilty about her own life—the dates, the parties, the boyfriends—until Rae begins to change.  Before Robin knows it, Rae has her first boyfriend.  The only problem is, it's Chris...

I was surprised that the "handicap" is a slight limp.  I guess I was expecting a bit more than that.  I feel like the early part of the book exaggerates Rae's problem a bit, even though having a limp would be difficult for a teenager who is self-conscious.  Robin states her feelings about Rae on page 5:  "I felt guilty that I was strong and healthy and popular."

I can see where Rae might not be strong or popular because of the limp.  I find it odd that the limp also makes her unhealthy.  Huh.

I enjoyed reading this book, but I found a number of things odd.  I was a bit unsettled and puzzled by the ending.

The rest of this post contains spoilers.  Quit reading now to avoid having the ending spoiled.

When Chris first meets Robin and Rae, he is clearly interested in Rae instead of Robin.  Rae remains aloof, which is how Chris and Robin end up together.  After Chris and Robin have a falling out, Chris goes out with Rae.  They seem to get along pretty well.

Meanwhile, Robin works at a nearby greenhouse and meets Jeffrey.  Jeffrey is cold and arrogant at first, and Robin doesn't like him.  Later, they become friendly, and Jeffrey makes it clear that he is interested in Robin.

Rae and Chris break up.  And then, Robin reflects that she will get back with Chris.  The book pretty abruptly ends.  Uh, what?

I don't like Chris.  Something just doesn't feel right about his relationship with Robin.  I really thought that Robin would develop a relationship with Jeffrey.  She just abandons Jeffrey without any closure.  She isn't even sure about Chris, but she's going to get back with him, even though he has bad traits.  I don't get it.  I thought the author was headed towards a different ending.

Wishing Star #16 Walk Beside Me, Be My Friend and #17 A Summer to Remember

Wishing Star #16, Walk Beside Me, Be My Friend, Joan Oppenheimer, 1978

"Don't walk in front of me.
I may not follow.
Don't walk behind me.
I may not lead.
Walk beside me and just be my friend."

To Kris, anything seems better than living at home.  Her mother is overworked, angry, and demanding.  Her two young brothers are loud and undisciplined.  Her sister is lazy and a brat.  And all Kris does is take care of all of them.

So one night she runs away and finds life on the road is no better.  It holds only violence, terror, and hunger.  It is only when she is placed in Chloe Dunham's foster home that she is able to feel love.  She loves Regan and her loves her.  And out of their love for each other grows a better understanding of her family.

The book pictured is an earlier Scholastic edition not packaged for the Wishing Star set.  Due to the use of stock photos online, this book is hard to locate in the Wishing Star version.

The back cover emphasizes the romance more than it should for this book.  Kris and Regan do like each other, but it's nowhere near love.

This is an excellent book.

Wishing Star #17 A Summer to Remember, Priscilla Maynard, 1982

Carrie's brother is dead.  She has to accept the fact.  But Allen was her idol, and it's so hard to forget him... especially when Marc comes to work on their ranch.  Everything about Marc brings back painful memories of Allen.  And Carrie hates him for it—but at the same time she loves him.  He's kind and gentle and does everything as well as Allen did.

Carrie feels so torn.  She knows she has hurt Marc by avoiding him and brushing him off, but she doesn't know what to do about it.  Then comes the day of danger and excitement that pulls them together—and forces Carrie to face her true feelings.

I did not find this book interesting, so I did not read it.

Wishing Star #14 Jealousy and #15 The Loving Year

Wishing Star #14 Jealousy, Sheila Schwartz, 1982

Jealous.  That's how Gayle feels almost all the time.  Jealous of Prudence for getting a terrific boyfriend.  Jealous of Stewart for winning the science award.  Jealous of everybody.

Gayle wants to change.  Jealousy only gets her in trouble.  She feels angry and left out and miserable.  And when she fights with Prudence and Stewart she feels hurt.

Gayle doesn't know what to do... until a tragic accident shows her the things that really matter.

Gayle's behavior is intriguing because it is so awful.

This is a very good book.

Wishing Star #15 The Loving Year, Bianca Bradbury, 1982

Faith Conway has always been one of the "summer people" on Stone Island—but not this year.  This year she and her parents will become "islanders," spending the winter in their old summer house.  And Faith is scared.  She's scared of going to a new school, of having to make new friends, of weathering the island's vicious storms.

But Matt Barnes makes a difference.  Strong yet gentle, he shows Faith the island ways, helps her through school, and comes to her rescue during two frightening experiences.

Still there's a distance between them.  Matt's afraid that when summer comes he'll lose Faith to her old crowd—and Faith's afraid he might be right...

This is just a regular all around good book.  Even though the title makes the book sound like it's a romance, it isn't.  This is more a coming-of-age story where Faith is trying to figure out who she is and what is important to her.

Wishing Star #12 Great Lakeside High Experiment and #13 Night Skiers

Wishing Star #12 The Great Lakeside High School Experiment, Neil R. Selden, 1982

The great Lakeside High Experiment is Jen's idea.  And she easily talks her boyfriend, Larry, and two other boyfriends into it.  It's so simple.  Just take a nothing, wallflower girl, pretend she's really great, and make her into a glamorous new person.  All they have to do is keep it a secret from her.

The subject they choose is lifeless, bumbling Maude.  Everything works fine... at first.  Maude gains confidence, changes her appearance, begins to dress better.  But soon Jen suspects things are going a little too well.  She certainly doesn't expect Larry to fall for Maude!  But he does, and after that everything crumbles and keeps crumbling.  Until the night the experiment explodes—for all of them.

Maude is just a really odd name to assign to a teenage girl in the 1980s.  The oddness of the name made the story harder for me to enjoy.

It's obvious that Jen and Larry don't belong together.  Their relationship is really odd and seems a bit fake.

The book is overall very good, but I did a lot of skimming.

Wishing Star #13 The Night Skiers, Dorothy Bastien, 1974

It isn't fair.

Lisa gets stuck with everything at once—the anguish of moving and switching schools during her senior year, the worry over her father's illness... and the heartbreak of leaving her boyfriend, Loren.

Lisa tries to cling to her old life, and makes a dreadful mistake.  She feels so alone, but can't face making friends with any of the new kids—even Curt Hysland who likes her and wants to help her.  How long can Lisa hold on to the past?  Does starting over mean losing what she had before?

This book is just good at the beginning, good enough that I read it.  After the story gets going, the book is excellent.  I enjoyed the character growth that occurs.  I very much enjoyed this book.

Wishing Star #10 Remember to Love and #11 Honey

Wishing Star #10 Remember to Love, Dorothy Bastien, 1979

At seventeen, Linda is pretty, captain of the tennis team, and she and Brian are very much in love.  Life is exciting and full.  Suddenly, she discovers that she has a fatal disease.

She rages against the knowledge that she is dying, inwardly shouting, "Why me?"  Refusing to accept the truth, she clings to every speck of hope that she will live.  Finally, she turns to Brian and with his help she faces the future with courage.

The book pictured is an earlier Scholastic edition not packaged for the Wishing Star set.  Due to the use of stock photos online, this book is hard to locate in the Wishing Star version.

Linda is not told what is wrong with her until page 68.  Her parents and boyfriend already know, and they don't tell her.  I was so annoyed.

This book never interested me.  I skimmed my way through it.

Wishing Star #11 Honey, Helen Cavanagh, 1979

Honey wishes she could have a pretty home and a mother who really cares about her.  Ever since her father left them, Honey has been taking care of everything!  She wishes someone would worry about her for a change.  If only she had a friend she could talk to...

Why does she feel so guilty about her mother?  And why is she so mean to Danny when she knows how much he loves her?  Suddenly Honey's world is coming apart—her father is coming back to live with them!  Can she ever forgive him?

This book has an annoying prologue telling all about how Honey feels about various people, then the first chapter shares even more background information.  Up through chapter 5 is background information, and the story does not reach the present until page 58.

Authors should always just get to the story.  The background information is easier to digest when presented throughout the story when relevant.

On page 43, Honey tells the reader that the "only other Black people [she] knew were Mrs. Lance..."  The word "Black" as a proper noun really jumped out at me.  As of June 2020, the media have begun capitalizing "Black" when it refers to the race.  This book was far ahead of its time in respect to that.  Of course, it was probably just a mistake, but still, I found it interesting.

On page 44, Honey explains what she thinks of Van.

We thought she was romantic the way she dressed.  She was our connection, we thought, to the awesomeness and mystery of deep, dark Africa.

I made the mistake of telling her that.

"Listen, little girl," she said angrily, "America is my home.  This isn't the South and this isn't the olden days.  The way I dress isn't far out.  Dunham is just way behind the times, that's all.  Go to New York sometimes, girls, or even just into Boston for the day.  Don't you be thinking I'm some kind of freak.  Women can dress any damn way they please today and I'm my own woman!"

You tell her, Van!

On pages 157 and 158, Van explains about Mother-Pie.

"Okay, so Mama said:  Imagine a pie.  If you cut it up, it's still a pie; still good and nourishing.  It can fill you up with goodness.  Say your real mother is one piece of pie, Honey, and Mrs. Redfield is another.  Your friend, the librarian, is another piece and the old lady who just died was one more.  They all give you what they can give.  And it sounds like your Danny might be a piece of that pie too, and maybe even your dad at one time."  She grinned.  "Men can be mothers too, you know."

Then her dark eyes were boring into mine again.

"Ever consider I might be part of your Mother-Pie?"

I was floored.   "You?" I gasped.

"Sure," she said.  "I'm the mean Mom.  The bossy one.  The one who makes you wipe your feet and do your homework and wants you to look as good as the other kinds.  Yeah, Honey-chile, call me Mother too."

This book is good at the the beginning, although rather tedious.  From page 58 on, the book is very good to excellent.  Overall, the book is very good.

Wishing Star #8 Katie and #9 I Don't Want to Be Your Shadow

Wishing Star #8 Katie, Deborah Aydt, 1980

Katie can't seem to fit in anywhere!  Her mother promised she'd never remarry... until she met Ben Baxter!  Her best friend, Bessie, is always talking about her great boyfriend, but will never let Katie meet him!

And then there's Robert.  Katie really likes Robert, but she isn't ready to be so serious.  If only he wouldn't expect so much!

At least her diet is really working.  She hardly has to eat anything anymore... It's so easy, and it's her own private secret.  Her mother is so involved in her upcoming marriage she hasn't even noticed—until the terrible accident when Katie winds up in the hospital!

This is a very good book.

Wishing Star #9, I Don't Want to Be Your Shadow, Deborah Aydt, 1981

Jon was a powerful force in my life, as powerful as my mother had been before.  Jon and my mother were both suns—when I differed to one of them, I became a shadow.

.....................

Blake has always lived in her mother's shadow.  Her mother holds an important job in the art world and expects Blake to follow in her footsteps.  But what Blake wants is a warm, quiet home life, and a mother who's always there.

When she finds it with Jon Purcell's family, she's delighted.  And she's even more delighted when she finds herself falling in love with Jon... until she makes the disturbing discovery that she's as much Jon's shadow as she was her mother's.

Blake wants to be herself.  But how?  Must she stop loving Jon?

The first problem is that this book begins in the future with Blake looking back on her relationship with Jon.  It is apparent that the relationship is in the past.  Why should I care?  I already know the ending.

The second problem is that I do not like Jon at all.  I partly skimmed the book and did not enjoy it.  I found it boring.

Wishing Star #6 Too Much in Love and #7 Don't Look Back

Wishing Star #6 Too Much in Love, Patty Brisco, 1979

Holly and Jeff are so much in love... Then Holly tells Jeff that she's going to have a baby.  What can they do?  Their parents are furious and can't agree about anything.  Jeff is so confused he hardly seems to care what happens!  Holly doesn't know which way to turn, so she runs away to find her own answers—and a decision she can accept with her heart.

This was the first Wishing Star book that I read, just to see if I would like the books.  I read the book very quickly, because I was intensely curious to see which solution would be chosen.

This is a very good book.

Wishing Star #7 Don't Look Back, Audrey P. Johnson, 1981

When she wrote in her journal, the words flowed effortlessly as she told of meeting Gabe.  What did it mean, this quickening, this awareness of a boy she had just met today?

Ellen could so easily fall in love with Gabe!  But their relationship is never smooth.  It's up and down, easy and hard...

Life is tough for Ellen.  Her father is dead, and she is determined to keep their farm going, but her mother and sister don't care.  They'd rather move to town.  Ellen is terrified of losing the farm... and Gabe.  Can she manage alone?  Or will Gabe be at her side to help?

Ellen is at the beginning of her senior year in  high school, so she is probably 17.  What's up with the "girl" on the cover of this book?  The "girl" looks rather old for 17.

On page 150, the flu epidemic of 1918 is mentioned.  I wonder if the 2020 pandemic will be mentioned in as many future books as the 1918 flu was mentioned in past books.

I skimmed a few parts of the book, but it is overall very good.  I have a slightly negative view of the book due to my astonishment about the cover picture.  The cover picture messed with me the entire time I was reading the book.

Wishing Star #5 Francesca, Baby

Wishing Star #5 Francesca, Baby, Joan L. Oppenheimer, 1976

She hears the cry in the night... Francesca?  Baby?... and thinks, My mother is a drunk.

Together Francesca and her sister manage to survive a mother who is rarely sober, a father who is seldom home.  But resentment, anger, guilt, and hopelessness still build up in Francesca.  Even her new-found love for Bix can't solve her problems.  There has to be help somewhere.  But where?

The book pictured is an earlier Scholastic edition not packaged for the Wishing Star set.  Due to the use of stock photos online, this book is hard to locate in the Wishing Star version.

On page 46, Bix ponders the career choices of girls.  "Why do so many girls want to be a nurse or a teacher?  I mean, are that many girls that much into those two careers?  Or do they just think there's a better chance in those two fields?"  Bix continues, "Isn't it possible there might be something else they'd like a whole lot more, some field they hadn't even considered, hadn't dared try?"

This resonated with me.  Like the girls mentioned by Bix, I never considered any career choices other than nurse or teacher.  I was just that unimaginative.  I assume that the people around me had conditioned me to believe that those were the only two career choices possible.

I recall a career bus at my high school when I was in the 10th grade.  We each had to sit in front of a computer and read about career choices.  The young man who was in charge asked each of us what we wanted to do.  When he asked me, I said that I wanted to be a nurse or a teacher.  I could tell that he didn't like my answer.  He replied, "If that's what you want to do."  He moved to another student and did not interact with me again.

He failed at his job that day.  He should have asked me about my strengths and interests in order to give me some other ideas.  Of course, I probably would not have helped him.  I never had any thoughts about any possibilities other than nurse or teacher.  I was like a robot programmed to do one or the other. 

In spite of that, I don't regret becoming a teacher.

This is a very compelling story that I thoroughly enjoyed.  I do feel that the problems were resolved a bit too easily, but with this type of book having a limited length, the author cannot make the story completely realistic.

This is an excellent book.

Wishing Star #3 Blind Sunday and #4 The Two Worlds of Jill

Wishing Star #3 Blind Sunday, Jessica Evans, 1978

Lee is the first girl Jeff has ever been able to talk to.  Pretty, funny, and smart, Lee puts Jeff at ease.  But Lee is blind.  Jeff worries about what his friends will think if he dates her.

"What's it like to be blind?" Jeff wonders.  After spending an amazing day in Lee's world of darkness, he find that he feels closer to her than he had ever thought possible.

This story came from an episode of ABC Afterschool Specials from 1976.

The story alternates between Lee and Jeff's point of view.  This is a very sweet romance which is in its early stages.  I loved this book.  The story is excellent.

Wishing Star #4 The Two Worlds of Jill, Patricia Aks, 1981

"I am not a little girl," I protested.  "I'm almost sixteen, and Mother never cares what time I get home."  

"I can't help what your mother does," Daddy said.  "When you live with me, you follow my rules."

Jill's parents live apart, and Jill spends time with both of them, a month here, a month there.  Downtown she's her mother's equal—with adult responsibilities.  Uptown she's Daddy's little girl.  Downtown there's Jason, uptown there's Paul.  Jill thinks she can handle anything—until her two worlds look like they're headed for a collision!

The book is just okay at first.  I was fine reading it during the early part, but it was nothing special.  During the second half of the book, the story is very good.  The plot is resolved a bit fast in just the last few pages of the book.  

Wishing Star #2 The Girl Who Wanted Out

Wishing Star #2 The Girl Who Wanted Out, Bianca Bradbury, 1981

She remembered every horrible detail of the crash—the headlights bearing down on them, the hideous squeal of brakes, the crunch of glass... and later, the terrible, cold feeling as she touched Eric's face and knew he was dead.

How can Andie go on living?  She survived; Eric didn't.  And she has lost the use of her legs.  She is seventeen, pretty... and confined to a wheelchair in her bedroom.  She feels she can never leave home, never again have friends, never go anywhere.

Then Andie hears of a way out of her confinement.  But it won't be easy.  Does she have the courage to try?

Public places are now required to be wheelchair accessible, and this was not true when this book was written.  Andie's chair has to be lifted up and down over the curbs by strangers whenever she crosses a street.  Nowadays, street crossings are wheelchair accessible.  Andie also has to be assisted so that she can get inside buildings.

I have commented about how Scholastic's books are packaged in a misleading fashion.  The summary itself is fine.  The blurb on the front cover is deliberately misleading, in my opinion.  The statement "One reckless moment and her life was changed" gives the impression that Andie might have been responsible for the accident.  She wasn't even driving!  She had nothing to do with the wreck.

This book is really depressing at first.  There's no way it wouldn't be depressing, since Andie is paralyzed.  Andie's paralysis is permanent, and she will never walk again.

As Andie experiences personal growth, the story becomes quite compelling.  Once Andie begins her stay at the rehabilitation hospital, the story becomes hopeful.  I enjoyed following Andie's struggle as she learns to cope with her paralysis.  This is an excellent story.

Wishing Star Overview and #1 The Lost Summer

The Wishing Star series was published by Scholastic during the early 1980s.  Some of the books had previously been published and were reprinted with this set.

These books feature girls who have significant problems, such as alcoholism, pregnancy, eating disorders, and abusive parents.  While the books fall under the umbrella of the teen romance genre, they are more like coming-of-age stories where the girls experience personal growth or find a way through a difficult situation.

Since I prefer teen romance books where the romance is a subplot to a more significant story, these books are well suited to my taste.  I love them.

 1.  The Lost Summer, Joan Oppenheimer, 1977
 2.  The Girl Who Wanted Out, Bianca Bradbury, 1981
 3.  Blind Sunday, Jessica Evans, 1978
 4.  The Two worlds of Jill, Patricia Aks, 1982
 5.  Francesca Baby, Joan Oppenheimer, 1976
 6.  Too Much in Love, Patti Brisco, 1979
 7.  Don’t Look Back, Audrey P. Johnson, 1981
 8.  Katie, Deborah Aydt, 1980
 9.  I Don’t Want to be Your Shadow, Deborah Aydt, 1981
10.  Remember to Love, Dorothy Bastien, 1979
11.  Honey, Helen Cavanaugh, 1979
12.  The Great Lakeside High Experiment, Neil R. Seldon, 1982
13.  The Night Skiers, Dorothy Bastien, 1974
14.  Jealousy, Sheila Schwartz, 1982
15.  The Loving Year, Bianca Bradbury, 1982
16.  Walk Beside Me, Be My Friend, Joan Oppenheimer, 1978
17.  A Summer to Remember, Priscilla Maynard, 1982
18.  Secrets, Deborah Aydt, 1981
19.  Sisters, Audrey P. Johnson, 1982
20.  Why Did You Leave Me?, Jane Claypool Miner, 1980
21.  But This Girl Is Different, Arnold Madison, 1982
22.  Second Chance, Joan Oppenheimer, 1982
23.  What About Me?, Pat Lawler, 1982
24.  Who Needs a Stepsister?, Patricia Aks, 1982
25.  Far From Home, Jill Ross Klevin, 1982
26.  How Can We Talk?, Deborah Aydt, 1982
27.  Jody, Deborah Kent, 1983

Wishing Star #1, The Lost Summer, Joan Oppenheimer, 1977

For Susie, one drink makes the summer wonderful fun.  Two make her forget her mother's new husband.  And three?  She forgets all the things a nice girl should remember!

The the fun ends and the agony begins.  Susie just survives from drink to drink.  A bottle hidden in the bathroom; a thermos taken to work; and Buck only too willing to keep her well supplied.

When life becomes unbearable, Susie desperately reaches out for help.  But is it too late?

Susie's best friend, La Dawn, is African American, and part of the story is told from her point of view.  Most of the teen books from this time period do not feature diverse characters, so it's great to see one.  La Dawn has a great personality and makes fun, snappy comments.

In two different parts of the story, I get the impression that Susie might have been taken advantage of by a male while she was drunk or in need of obtaining liquor.  Early in the story, Susie has is uneasy about what happened when a boy, who is said to be a jerk, took her home while she was drunk.  She cannot remember any details, and that part of the story is not pursued.

Later in the story, Susie's employer lets her purchase liquor from him.  Susie reaches a point where she cannot afford to buy any liquor from him, and then she begs.  He replies, "Oh, now, sure, little Sweetheart.  You just come along back to the office.  You and old Buck, we'll work somethin' out.  You just come along, and we'll see about it."  The chapter ends with that statement, and the reader never learns what they worked out. 

This is an excellent book.