The Moon without Stars by Chanel Miller. 256 p. Philomel Books/ Penguin Young Readers, January, 2026. 9780593624555. Review of finished book borrowed from pubic library.
Seventh grader Luna is well aware of her outsider status. She might be even comfortable with it. After all, she has her bff, Scott to walk to school and sit with at lunch. They sit under a tree, where Luna observes the interactions of the "popular crowd" with some fascination.
After she read all the books that she was given by the family of a girl in town who had died, Luna wonders what to do with them. She decides to give them away, but carefully. She becomes a "book doctor," prescribing books for her classmates - a middle school "right book at the right time for the right reader," if you will. Soon, she finds herself in demand for these books and she wonders how she can help more people. So she creates a zine and Scott illustrates it.
The zine takes off and eventually, Luna catches the eye of the popular crowd. At first, she splits her time between them and Scott, but eventually ditches him altogether; but being in the popular crowd has its price and as the stakes grow, Luna is unsure of her place in it.
This was such a spot-on depiction of middle school friendship dynamics. I loved Luna's voice. I loved her friendship with Scott and ached for him when she ditched him for the popular crowd. Middle school readers will find much to relate with in this engaging, heartfelt story. I picked it up after reading some Newbery buzz about it. The buzz is well-deserved.