Starry Night

Gr 7 Up—Wren has dreamed about spending the fall semester of her junior year at the exclusive Saint-Rémy art school in France ever since she first learned about the program. Wren wants to look up at the same sky and stars that influenced Vincent Van Gogh's The Starry Night, her favorite painting. Her parents support her dream and try not to put too much pressure on her to finish the application while maintaining the grades required—Wren has a learning disability and they understand her creative process. Her father is the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and she is finally invited to attend a special gala event. Even before the night begins, she can feel that this party might bring her something extra special. At dinner Wren is seated next to Nolan, the hottest guy she has ever seen up close. He's a senior in high school, but kind of famous already because of his band. That night they make a connection that might change everything she thinks she knows about herself, her friends, and love. Gillies's work as a memoirist certainly influences Starry Night, which is written with a perspective that only an adult's hindsight can bring. The conversational style will give readers the feeling that the protagonist is a close friend sharing her deepest secrets. The author's YA debut is best as an aspirational pick for younger teens; older readers will find a smarter and more intense story of first love in Lauren Myracle's The Infinite Moment of Us (Abrams, 2013).—Joy Piedmont, LREI, New York City