Under Shifting Stars

     Teen twins Clare and Audrey, narrators of Alexandra Latos's Under Shifting Stars, had been inseparable best friends until they started developing in very different directions. Now, ten months after the sudden death of their beloved older brother, Adam, a chasm has grown between them.

     Neurodivergent Audrey attends an alternative school. The name of the school is Peak. The students and their neurotypical peers call it Freak. Audrey is determined to leave it and regain her closeness with her sister.

     "Clare and I used to do this. We used to swing side by side until the sun set. 

     Beside me the swing is empty. 

     I'm going to get her back, I say out loud. I'm going to prove I can be like her."

     Clare is quite opposed to Audrey coming back to her school, and it isn't only because of her sister's embarrassing behavior. It's also due to the grief on Audrey's behalf she had felt when their peers had relentlessly teased her.

     "This is the first semester Audrey and I haven't been in school together. I want to keep it that way. I'm not going to let myself feel guilty about her anymore."

     And Clare is not the pretty, popular girl her family sees her as. Some days she wants to be just like Adam. She wears his clothes and uses his skateboard. Other days she feels more like a girl and dresses accordingly. She has no idea what she is or whether her family will accept this person. 

     And while all this is going the family members are having to deal with one of the hardest losses a family can sustain...

     ...and one of them feels that it's her fault Adam died.

On a purrrsonal note, the big storm that the meteorologists have been waxing eloquently about has arrived. The ❄️ is pretty heavy and the winds are kicking up, raising the possibility of a power outage. I sure hope we don't get one because it would interfere with getting homework done. And the house gets so cold. Eugene has gone out to plow.

A great big shout out goes out to Eugene and all the other blizzard battlers. 

Jules Hathaway 

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