A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

The award-winning author of Emako Blue and The Red Rose Box weaves a powerful story from the lives of a wonderfully diverse group of Los Angeles students.

If you could get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for anything at all, what would it be?

When Ms. Hart gives this assignment to her tenth-grade creative writing class, it does more than get kids thinking—it opens up their lives in ways they never expected:

• Shante finds both a new boyfriend in Jake and trouble because he’s white;
• Sunday survives a sexual assault from her mother’s boyfriend, but worries he still might come back;
• Marlon’s basketball dreams could be shattered when he tears up his knee;
• and all Dorian wants is dinner for his three younger brothers.

These teens persevere through hardship and heartache, laughter and love, and in the end, their voices shine through inspiring journal entries that answer the question in unusual and unexpected ways.