Stella By Starlight (2000) "Stella is loved and protected by her strong, intelligent family. She is cared for and watched over by her teacher and her community. But she is not safe because she is a black girl living in Bumblebee, North Carolina before the Civil Rights Movement. She, her family, and her community face frightening violence from people who want them to stay second-class citizens. Read about Stella as she thinks and thinks and writes about these things. A thoughtful, at times dramatic, view of what life was like for people who had little or no protection against the hatred of others." Sharon Draper is back with a well-researched book set in the Jim Crow South. Stella is a girl who loves to read, outdoors, at night. And there, across the pond, she sees a Klan meeting with its burning cross. Violence is in the air, but this is less the focus than the way of living by Stella, her family and neighbors. what we get is a warm, even affectionate portrait of a black community, committed to each other, to raising up children, to building hope. this is a book to treasure.