Stella by Starlight, Sharon Draper. Set in the south with the Ku Klux Klan a constant reminder of how segregation divided us by color, Stella lives with her family. She witnesses things no little girls should witness: physical abuse, prejudice, hatred unfairness. Stella and her family try their best to avoid confrontation; however, when her father, and other neighbors, walk to town to register to vote, they are looked upon with disgust by the white court official. They must take a written test, even though white men don't have to take it. They pass despite scrutiny and plan to join so many others in voting Roosevelt into office.

When Stella's little brother gets too sick for their mother to cure him and the black doctor out of town, Stella is asked to find the white doctor who refuses to tend to him and is comfortable with the possibility of letting him die. Stella has suspicions that he is the head of the KKK and responsible for the burning of the Spencer house with their many children. When Hazel, the youngest is missing and feared in the house, Stella remembers a special spot she just might be hiding and finds her safe and sound.

Not all white people in the south were full of hatred. In fact, one day two white ladies came visiting with clothes and goods for the Spencer family. With so much generosity, Mrs. Spencer came with extra clothes and shoes for Stella and her brother, their first pair ever. She also brings a typewriter, for which she has no use. Stella, a struggling student, wants nothing more than to write, so she sneaks outside late at night to practice her writing, until her dad tells her it is much too dangerous.

Draper is a master writer. With this story, she shares the horrors of segregation and the racism running so rampant in our not so distant history. A book well worth reading and sharing to help children learn history in a way that connects us so strongly with Stella.