Stars and Sparks on Stage
by Sharon Draper
Stars and Sparks on Stage brings us to the final book in the Ziggy series. The boys are eager to win a $200 prize in their school talent show, planning to trick out their clubhouse. When a newcomer arrives, they just may have to change their plans. Tulip was made homeless due to Hurricane Katrina. Now she’s safe in Ohio, but she certainly could use the prize money and she’s got a killer voice. What will the boys do?
In wrapping up my Ziggy reviews, I’d like to address some complaints I’ve read about the series. There are people who don’t like that Draper takes the time to discuss the skin tone of each of the boys and feels that the insertion of Ziggy (a Jamaican) is a form of tokenism. Frankly, having read books aimed at this age group for years, this is something that author’s often do. I’m guessing that they do it to make the book appeal to the broadest possible audience. If the boys in Ziggy all have different families and have different skin tones, there is a great chance of a kid finding that one character that they can connect with. It’s done all the time – think of the girls in The Babysitter’s Club, the use of a brother sister pair in The Magic Treehouse series, consider how often one character in a story is a brunette in the story and another is a blonde. Draper is not approaching this differently from any of these other authors except with one notable exception: she’s black and she’s writing about black characters. Believe me, this audience deserves to be able to find themselves in book, no matter how hokey it seems to describe country of origin or skin tone or family structure. We all do. I can’t begin even tell you how heavily biased I was towards brunette characters as a child, I felt so marginalized by the blonde is better mentality. It’s even harder for children of color to find books featuring characters that look like them, and yet it’s something that is really important to children. I’m siding firmly with Draper on this one.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – The boys clearly think Tulip is something special.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – None.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.
