I read the book The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls.  Upon completing this book today, it is quite fresh in my mind.  The story is about two sisters in the 1970s, Beans and Liz, who are left by their mother who goes off to “find herself” and are without a father.  When spotting a police car outside, fearing they will take them from their mother, they decide to run all the way across the country, from California to Virginia, to their Uncle Tinsley.  Living with their uncle, Beans and Liz learn many things about how their family grew up.  Beans learns all about her murdered father whom she had never met from his brother and his family (Aunt Al and Uncle Clarence).  Both sisters decide they need to work to support themselves for school clothes and supplies.  They are hired by a man made Mr. Maddox to do work for himself and his family around the house.  After failing to properly pay the girls, Liz confronts Mr. Maddox while riding in his car.  At this moment, he assaults and attempts to rape her.  The girls decide to press charges, which becomes the talk of the town.  The kids at their newly integrated school continue to give harsh glares and the girls feel very distant.  The trial becomes a very climatic point in the story and sets up a very shocking ending that I certainly did not see coming.  
      I knew the author, Jeannette Walls, from her famous book, The Glass Castle, and loved her sense of style in her writing.  This book constantly had me asking questions of why the characters made certain decisions and had me feeling the emotions of the sisters.  This book is set apart because of its unique portrayal of an American family in a very realistic setting.  While the book is fiction, you learn to really feel for the characters and their situations.  I fell with Beans’ courage and Liz’s individuality.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to other readers.  I particularly loved the point of view from twelve year old Beans.  It gave us the innocent point of view, yet really helped the reader feel the emotions she was feeling and want to help in conflict.  My favorite scene in the book was when Beans was learning about her father (differs from Liz’s).  She had never even known his name and being alongside her as she was enlightened of the courageous man he was, was truly fulfilling.  While he seemed like the town loser, he really died a hero.  Aunt Al gave Beans the Silver Star he had earned and this star became Beans beacon of hope and the only thing she has of her father.  The style with which this is written is beautifully crafted with stunning imagery to make the reader really feel a part of Beans’ joyful moment. 
        I also loved the poetic side to Liz.  She is very corky and loves Edgar Allen Poe.  I love how Wells uses Liz’s poetry that she writes to convey how she is feeling in certain situations.  Her poetry becomes darker during the time of the trial, but lightens at the very end where she compares herself to an Emu.  I found this indirect characterization of Liz extremely unique and enjoyable to read.  These two scenes I felt were the best aspects of the book.  My criticisms of this book are very minimal.  Some parts of the story seem to go on too long or seem irrelevant.  While their high school life is important, I felt it shouldn’t have been a main focus in the middle of the story.  This is more of an internal struggle with Liz and within the family and having drama in high school as well seems a little cliché.  This would be my only complaint about the book.  While Beans could be considered an unreliable narrator because of her age, I enjoyed the decision to make her the narrator.  She sees the world with much more awe and wants to learn more about things.  This makes for a more interesting plot. 
       I would absolutely recommend this book for someone to read.  While it is difficult to put this book in a certain genre, I feel it is the perfect little story of Smalltown, USA.  It is a very easy, enjoyable read and would be found interesting by teenagers or adults.  While not winning any awards, the author is very well known from her award winning novels The Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses.  I feel the author made a smooth transition from writing memoirs to fiction.  The Silver Star is definitely worth a go.