Where the Stars Still Shine

As befits a teen "problem novel," Callie's mother has drinking problems, money problems and relationship problems. Callie has pretty much raised herself, she doesn't attend school anymore. Truth be told, her mom is probably mentally ill. By Chapter 2, Callie and her mom are picked up the by a sheriff who discovers that Callie's mom doesn't really have custody, and her father has been looking for her for years. Her father has remarried, Callie has two half-brothers, and this new family lives in a close knit Greek community a plane-ride away.

Author Trish Doller does an excellent job of portraying Callie's wariness with her new and (an outside observer might say) "better" family. But despite the abundant love, the financial security and the clean clothes, Callie misses her mom and feels uncomfortable in this new family-intensive life. She is used to fending for herself and being on her own. Nothing unfolds as expected, as the rich and sometimes flawed characters do the best they can to adjust to new circumstances. Callie is sexually active, and her relationships are portrayed lovingly and realistically for a young woman grown up too soon. Probably best for high school readers, due to some mature situations.
About me: I'm a middle school/high school librarian
How I got this book: advance reading copy given to me at a conference

I struggled writing my review for WHERE THE STARS STILL SHINE by Trish Doller. Not because the book lacked for anything (because it doesn't), nor because I didn't like it (because I adore it). More-so, I struggled because I wanted to adequately put into words just how much this story means to me, both as a reader as well as someone who is highly familiar with the book's setting. Rare is it that one has the opportunity to read a book that takes place in their own hometown. Rarer still is when that book turns out to be both exhilarating and profound, something simply unforgettable. WHERE THE STARS STILL SHINE is such a book.

Trish is carving a place for herself in the world of contemporary fiction as an exceptional author who writes about situations that many of us hardly even dare to imagine in our normal, everyday lives - things that we only hear about from the news. What's more is that she is not afraid to take these already stark situations to even darker places and weave her ideas into realistic works of imaginative fiction that make you think. In Something Like Normal, Trish explores how a military man with PTSD deals with returning to a house that is something less than normal. In WHERE THE STARS STILL SHINE, Trish ups her game by telling the story of a young lady who was never given the opportunity to live a "normal" life, having been on the run with her unstable mother for the past ten years. How Callie reacts when she is suddenly given the family she had been denied all those years will both amaze you and break your heart.

As I said before, one of the biggest selling points when I found out about WHERE THE STARS STILL SHINE (aside from the fact that I adore the author and her previous work) was the fact that it takes place practically in my own backyard. While this fact alone may not be a selling point for you, the fact that Trish really couldn't pick a better setting - a setting that is as much a part of the story as any of the main characters (in fact, the location is like a character unto itself) - should be reason enough for me to address it. Tarpon Springs, Florida is one of (if not the) largest concentrations of Greek people in the United States. If you know anything about Greek families, they are usually large, highly cultural and set in tradition and, essentially, the prime definition of a "close knit family".

The point I am trying to make is this: Imagine you are a young boy or girl who has never truly been close to anyone but your own (undependable and not always there for you) mother. You have no roots, no real home, no family... Suddenly, your mother is taken away and you are whisked off to a place you are now told is your "home". This "home" consists almost entirely of people of Greek decent within a small town community where everybody knows your name (everybody knows everybody's name, for that matter). Suddenly, you find yourself being nurtured and loved by others and you're given a place to finally put down some roots. How do you think you would handle it? I think that, much like Callie, I would be a bit overwhelmed and confused, to say the least.

Note: I myself am not Greek, nor was I kidnapped by my own mother, but I am an Air Force brat (who has never really stayed in any single location for more than a few years, nor do I really have contact with my own extended family) and I married into an Italian family; so I kind of understand Callie's sudden "thrust" into a large family setting. Not to mention, I frequently visit Tarpon Springs, so I know quite a bit about how very "Greek" the community is. I know how overwhelming being put into such a place would be for someone more familiar with being a "loner"...

Callie reacts in many different ways in her new world, some of which I could totally get behind and accept, and others that, honestly, quite baffled me. At first, we learn very little about Callie's experiences with her mother over the past ten years. We know that she has not had it easy, no doubt, but we do not know enough to fully understand why Callie reacts as she does early on. This may make some of the events early in the book - specifically when it comes to how Callie treats others and the matter of her sexual experiences - hard for some readers to swallow. But, when appropriate, little pieces of Callie's past are brought to light and suddenly it all makes sense, or as much sense as can be made when it deals with Callie and her unfortunate upbringing, at least.

In spite of the bleakness of Callie's past, there are so many moments of beauty within WHERE THE STARS STILL SHINE. As the title implies, there is just as much light within these pages as there is darkness. You will often feel that Callie's community is embracing you, the reader, just as they are embracing Callie. Some of my favorite characters include the tenaciously optimistic, Kat, as well as Callie's yiayoula (grandmother). The goodness within these pages far outshine the badness.

While there is PLENTY of romance in WHERE THE STARS STILL SHINE, and the leading man, Alex, is quite the "catch" (pardon the pun, you'll get it when you read the book), I found that the book shone best when dealing with Callie's personal issues. The fact that Callie must deal with the skeletons of her past is the driving emotional force within the book. Much like Travis from Something Like Normal, Callie has a lot that she must move past if she is ever to have a brighter future. Still, the romance is realistic, certainly not instantaneous, and some of the best scenes of the book include the interactions between Callie and Alex. He is a man that any girl would be lucky to find. The events surrounding a day of snorkeling late in the book will forever remain some of the most emotionally gripping scenes I have ever read in YA. Ever.

If only all girls who have no real family or home - those who have suffered just as much, if not more than, Callie - would be lucky enough to have the chance to be welcomed into at least one pair of open arms sometime in their lives. There is goodness in the world and WHERE THE STARS STILL SHINE gives you hope that the stars really do shine for us all.

It's hard going into a book with high expectations. I've loved Doller's previous novel so much that my hopes were set high with this one. And, unfortunately, I think that's what made this book slightly disappointing to me. Now, that's not to say I didn't greatly enjoy it. I did. But, in the end, I can't say this was her best work, in my opinion.

The story she paints in regards to Callie's struggles is strong. This girl doesn't understand relationships since all she has was her mother. She doesn't understand normality and friendship, proper food and money. Unfortunately, she does understand what it's like to be taken advantage of by a man. I think one of the most powerful plot points in this book for me was Callie's struggle with her past sexual abuse. Nobody would believe her and nobody was willing to understand, so she held everything inside until she burst. She dealt with it her own way and it led her down this path of destruction.

One of my biggest struggles with the book was her coping mechanism, which was to have a lot of sex. She got into the habit of being a sexual hit and run and relied too much on her sex drive for certain things. She internalized her problems and, at times, they'd appear when she found herself in sexual situations and she'd panic a little. I just didn't like this about her, at all. Especially because of how she met Alex. They ran into each other and there was this huge sexual charge between them after exchanging less then 10 sentences between the two of them. Then, the next time they run into each other it's completely unspoken yet entirely agreed upon that the first thing they do is have sex. This is not healthy, it's not a good way to start a relationship, and even with her past in mind the way they met bugged me. While I support the believability of lust at first sight over love at first sight, I did not like how Doller went about getting them together. At all. I found her commitment issues and constant questioning of things to be frustrating, though this could be attributed to Callie's lack of psychological help after enduring such a strange childhood.

On a positive note, I really loved Callie's family. Her father's a bit too lenient, but it's because he's adjusting to having his daughter back too. You can tell her truly loves her from the bottom of his heart. And Callie's step-mother isn't that bad either. Her worries about Callie being around her children are reasonable, and she, too, has a huge adjustment to make. Callie's little brothers were absolutely adorable and her grandmother was pretty kick-ass. But her best friend and cousin, Kat, was an entirely different story. This girl is so overemotional she reminds me of a hyperactive kindergartener that knows about sex. She got hurt over the stupidest of things and was a jealous individual. She has a huge heart, but she's so immature. Reign your emotions in, girl! I get the impression that she'd cry if a bug died on her windshield.

Alex is an interesting love interest. He genuinely cares about Callie and he's got demons of his own, but I can't say I entirely understand his demons. I'm still slightly confused about them. I know that he grew from them somewhat in the end, but the confusion was not at all enjoyable for me, despite how enjoyable he was. He has dreams and aspirations and he was a nice little touch to the story. I also adore the fact that he can admit when he's wrong. But I feel as if he is prone to overexaggeration at times, especially when he and Callie fight, and he forgives in unbelievable ways. After everything they've been through, I didn't enjoy the place where their relationship was left off at the end of the book, though it made the romance lover in me happy. It was too open and under-clarified.

Watching Callie change and begin to understand the twisted relationship that she had with her mother was amazing as well. Her growth was superb, and I applaud Doller for being able to write such a realistic, heart-wrenching story. The disorders that Callie's mother suffered from were spot on, and that's what made aspects of the story so disturbing. Her mother alternated between two extremes and that's reflected greatly in the writing. Some scenes literally scared me because of this, but again, this is just a testament to Doller's writing.

In the end, I think that many people will enjoy this book because it is certainly powerful. I, however, did not love it as much as I initially hoped I would. I still adore Doller and her ability to tell a powerful story, but this is simply one of those relationships that wasn't meant to be. I'm still anxious to see what else she has in store for us.

I never read Trish Doller's Something Like Normal so I'm a complete newb when it came to her work and even though I didn't completely fall in love with Where the Stars Still Shine I did like it enough to where I am looking forward to reading more novels by her.

Okay so Where the Stars Still Shine is about Callie who was kidnapped by her mom at the young age of five years old. She never had a normal life they were always moving from place to place. Her mother suffers from a mental illness, she never went to school, or had friends and she was a victim of sexual abuse, basically a stable home life was non-existent for her. So when she is thrust back into the life she would of had had her mom not kidnapped her she has a lot of things to work through.

I could not get myself to like Callie. In the beginning of the book before she got reunited with her family I sympathized for her but after being reunited with her family her character became a little frustrating to me and I just couldn't connect with her. What really threw me off was how sexual she was. I didn't like how the insta-love thing happened between her and Alex and by the second meeting they were already having sex. Another thing about Callie that bugged me was how she treated Kat she was so mean to her for the most part when all she was trying to do was be a good friend. Then there was her mom and I couldn't stand how she kept letting her mom back in even after realizing how toxic she was.

What I did enjoy were the parts that involved her family. She came from such a wonderful Greek family who really loved her and were thankful to have her back. We saw her dad struggling to connect with his daughter, her step-mom not fully trusting her with her step-brothers and working through her issues, then there was also her grandma who was there for her also throughout the whole ordeal.

Overall I did find this book to be predictable and true the main character was not someone I really cared for much but the book as whole was actually still a good read and I would recommend picking it up.

My daughter checked this out from her middle school library but got to the rape in chapter 2 and realized this book was not for her.

I had this book on my shelf for quite awhile and just hadn't picked it up to read. I knew nothing about this book going in except that it takes place in Florida. Where the Stars Still Shine tells the story of Callie who was kidnapped by her mother as a child and has lived her life on the run until one day her mom is arrested and Callie is returned to live with her dad. This story is about Callie's struggle to start life over with a dad and family she doesn't remember at the same time dealing with the feelings and events that took places living a less than stellar life with her mom who suffers from a mental illness. Callie had to grow up too fast and deal with events no child should so being thrown into an automatic family with her dad, stepmother and two little brothers is a lot for her to get used to. I found the story very compelling and I was glad to see Callie surrounded by people who care about her no matter how hard she pushes them away.

Trish Doller writes incredibly real teens, and this searing story of love and discovering who’s really important in your life will resonate with readers who want their stories authentic and utterly true. Where the Stars Still Shine left me breathless and at a loss for words in the best possible way. Honestly, I don’t feel like I can accurately express how much I love this book. It’s beautiful.

I tear up when I read books, but it’s rare for me to actually cry when I read a book. I cried while reading Callie’s story. I had to email friends who have read this book to make sure certain things were/were not going to happen because I couldn’t read it fast enough. I was INVESTED in these characters. I still am. As I’m writing this review it’s been a month since I’ve read Where the Stars Still Shine and I’m STILL invested in these characters. I feel like they’re part of my life. I care about them and want the best for them. That kind of story is the best kind of story. Trish Doller has written an excellent story.

Something that really made me happy while reading Where the Stars Still Shine is that Callie is such a strong and independent character. She has to be because of how she’s grown up. But even though she’s strong, she’s also vulnerable. Callie has a tough time asking for help and recognizing familial support. And her family? They are amazing. Her father, Greg, is what I wish more fathers in general and in YA are. Callie also has an incredible grandmother and cousin. These supporting characters not only add a real depth to the story and excellent familial element, but they also showcase how strong yet vulnerable Callie is. She’s not use to relying on anyone but herself, but now that she has this new family she learns a new and better definition of the word family. Her mother isn’t really a mother, but it’s all she knows of family.

If I’m going to bring up Callie’s independence and strength, I need to bring up sexuality. Callie hasn’t had the best experiences with sex in her life; in fact, at least one experience was detrimental. Her relationship with Alex is positive and is written really well. I like that she takes ownership of her thoughts and desires about sex. Not that many books write sex in this way, so I’m happy to read one that does.

Speaking of Alex, I want to know more about his back story. I would love it if Trish Doller wrote a book from his point of view. I know that’s wishful thinking, but there it is. I want more from Alex.

I will admit that I wished for a slightly different ending, but it works for the characters and the story. It’s an honest ending. Trish Doller writes magic, and I HIGHLY recommend that you read Where the Stars Still Shine. I read it in one sitting and can’t wait to share it with my students.

Oh my goodness, this story was beautiful and full of those all important feels. I was hoping that I wouldn't be disappointed by this book and I wasn't. It was beautifully written from start to finish. This was the first Trish Doller book that I have ever read but it absolutely will not be my last.

Callie has been on the run with her mother since she was little, so the only loyalty she feels is to her mother. Yet when her mother is finally arrested for kidnapping, Callie is forced to go live with a father she doesn't remember and her two half brothers and stepmom, Phoebe.In Florida she also meets her cousin Kat, who is part of this huge Greek family that Callie doesn't remember.

She isn't ready to just abandon all thoughts of her mother and change her loyalties to her father and stepmom. Yet she cannot deny that it feels good to belong somewhere. It feels good knowing that people care about her and don't want her running around by herself. It isn't until she meets Phoebe's brother, Alex, that she begins to realize that all guys aren't like the ones she knew before.

Alex isn't the guy who stole her innocence at 8 years old. It takes Callie awhile to believe that there are good guys out there and that every guy isn't just after one thing. I know a lot pf people had issues with both her attitude and how she kinda just slept with any guy who wanted her.She had very little experience with guys. After all the only guys she would meet were the middle-aged pervs that leered at her.

Her attitude towards sex was pretty cavalier but I think the experience with her mother's boyfriend had really screwed up her self esteem. Being with Alex actually raised her self esteem. By the end of the book, she knew that she deserved better. She knew that she was worth something.Watching that transformation in Callie was something really special.

I loved Alex. I mean he was wonderful and sweet and kind to Callie. My favorite part between them was near the end when she told him exactly what had happened to her. He didn't look at her any differently. He didn't view her as "trash" or "dirty" or "sick" He saw the same girl. He saw Callie exactly as she deserved to be seen. What he did for his mother in the end was beautiful and I cried. He had his own demons but he was able to put them aside for his mother. A guy who is devoted to his mother is something special.

While this book was pretty damn near perfection, there were lulls in the book. Parts that didn't exactly bore me but were on the slow side. I guess that was a good thing as it gave me time to dry the tears that showed up.I really enjoyed this book and it's seriously on the cusp of love for me. So it's getting 4.5 stars. A near PERFECT read for me. I would absolutely recommend it to pretty much anyone.

This book was awesome! Trish touched on so many serious issues such as sexual abuse, neglect, and mental illness, yet managed to leave me with nothing other than a feeling of hope! Callie went through so much as a result of her upbringing. After the only life she has ever known is taken away she is left to figure out where she belongs. She is thrown into this perfect little family that is part of one big family and has to figure out her role. I loved watching her gradually allow people in and also start to give others a part of herself. There was such an honest and realistic balance when it came to her emotions. As much as she wanted to and tried to trust people, she would continuously pull back. She also struggled with feelings of guilt and responsibility in regard to her mother. My heart ached for her! I liked that the book was messy. Even though I would have liked the ending to be a little less open-ended, I appreciated that it reflected how life really is– unpredictable. It was a beautiful story of survival, self discovery, and moving forward.

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Next time I read a Trish Doller novel, I'm going to make sure I have tissues nearby. I mean, I expected to cry while reading her debut Something Like Normal. I just didn't realize how much I would with Where the Stars Still Shine. I really don't know how the author does it, but she can make a scene powerful and emotional using only a few words. It's pretty amazing.

I felt an immediate connection to Callie and her story. I wasn't at all bothered by the fact that she chose to keep quiet about some of the things she had gone through because that's just what she's use to doing and how she's coped the majority of her life. And after everything she's had to endure, I was so inspired by her inner strength and ability to keep moving forward even though she was vulnerable and scared and sometimes thought it would be so much easier to just run away. I think what kept her grounded, though, was the normalcy she craved for years and years that she finally had. A life with family and friends that care about her and love her, and a future that doesn't seem quite as impossible now.

Which brings me to what I loved the most about this novel: the relationships Callie had with the people around her. Her interactions with her family, new friends, and even Alex, the guy she was seeing, were well done and seemed realistic given her situation. Her relationship with Alex was one of my favorites. While they grew up differently and had their own problems to deal with, they were drawn to each other and connected in a way no one truly seemed to understand. But it felt right for them, and I loved what they shared. All these people helped Callie grow and open up in some way, and knowing that they are in her life gives me hope that things will only continue to get better for her.

The writing, the setting (which I felt I could visualize clearly even though I've never been to Tarpon Springs), and of course, the characters and their relationships with each other were all aspects I loved about Where the Stars Still Shine. Trish Doller knows how to write beautiful and uplifting stories. Stories full of love and friendships that leave me with a tearful smile and a sense of hope. I'm already anticipating the release of her next novel, and if you have yet to read her novels, I highly recommend them both.