Book C lub Kit
Dear Reader, The summer I was twelve, I vacationed with my family and best friend in a beach town. It was the first time my friend and I could explore on our own, and we delighted in our newfound freedom—at least until men began taking notice of us. At crosswalks, they whistled and yelled out their car windows. At the mall, they trailed us and tried to strike up conversations. This attention was jarring. It didn’t matter that I had unicorn posters in my bedroom or that I’d just completed the sixth grade—these men saw that I was growing up, and they let me know it. At times, this felt like power; at other times, I felt vulnerable and frightened. This tension was on my mind as I began writing Body of Stars. From the moment I conceived of a world where the future is foretold through the markings on women’s skin, I understood that control and power would serve as the heart of the novel’s conflict. If this fictional world were as patriarchal as the one I’d grown up in, then the ability to predict the future would be both a curse and a gift, which is how I felt about my body—that it made me feel both empowered and exposed. When I started writing Body of Stars, it was liberating to set aside my own skepticism to explore the mysteries of prophecy and fate in a fictional universe. I soon understood, however, that I was writing about the female body as a burden, as currency, and as a force of life. If women alone bore the ability to foretell the future, that very privilege would change how they moved through the world and could result in narrow, restrictive gender roles. Any person whose gender identity or sexuality differed from the “norm” would face additional layers of discrimination. My novel therefore became a mirror of our reality, illuminating the injustices so many people endure every day. I hope readers will see both the darkness and the light within Body of Stars. While Celeste faces objectification and violence, progress is possible, not everything can be predicted, and mysteries persist. I wanted the agency and power I see among girls, women, and marginalized communities in our world to be reflected in Celeste’s story. In turn, I hope Body of Stars inspires others to know and value their rights, to challenge prevailing attitudes, and to question systems of oppression. Most of all, I wanted to write a character with the courage to fight for change and for a better future—no matter what appears to be written in the stars.
Laura Maylene Walter
Discussion Questions 1. Celeste’s femininity is both a source of power and vulnerability. Her ability to predict the future is also marked by duality—it is a gift and a curse. How do these tensions play out throughout the novel? Do they appear in your own life? 2. The novel centers around two siblings, Celeste and Miles. How does a book focused on a sibling relationship differ from one that has a romantic relationship at its center? 3. Secrets have a lot of power in this book. Why do you think Miles didn’t tell Celeste that he knew what would happen to her? Why did Celeste not tell Miles about what she sees in his future? If you were in their shoes, would you have told either of their secrets, or kept them? Did your opinion about what you would do change as you read? 4. Each character struggles with personal conflicts as well as broader desires to change the future and influence society. Do you think one is more important than the other? Do Celeste or Miles achieve their goals, and if so, how? How do you balance these concerns in your own life? 5. Tarot, crystal balls, astrology, and palm reading all play a significant role in the book. How do these practices relate to the way women’s bodies are used to tell the future? Do you use any of these tools in your own life? Why or why not? 6. In Body of Stars, there is a constant tension between the dictates of fate and the characters’ free will. How much agency do you think Miles and Celeste really have? 7. What is the relationship between the fate of individuals (like Miles, Celeste, Deirdre, etc.) and the fate of their society as a whole? How are they related? 8. In Body of Stars, the Office of the Future plays an enormous role in the lives of citizens. Do you think this reflects or distorts the role of government in real life? What made the Office of the Future such a powerful force in Celeste’s world? 9. The Mountain School provides an important space for Celeste following the trauma of her changeling period. Do you think there are spaces like the Mountain School in our world? What value do you think they bring to society? 10. What did you think of the way the novel ended? Do you believe in Miles’s bloodflower-inspired visions of the future?