Every Soul a Star is a 2008 novel for children and young adults by Wendy Mass

Wendy Mass

Wendy Mass , is an award-winning author of young-adult novels and children's books. Her most successful book was A Mango-Shaped Space which won the American Library Association Schneider Family Book Award for Middle School in 2004...

. Taking turns in first person from each of the main characters' point of view, it follows the stories of Jack, an confident-lacking 13-year-old who is slightly overweight, Ally, an almost-13-year-old homeschooled girl who wants to be an astronomer, and Bree, who's life goal is to be on the cover of Seventeen

Seventeen (magazine)

Seventeen is an American magazine for teenagers. It was first published in September 1944 by Walter Annenberg's Triangle Publications. News Corporation bought Triangle in 1988, and sold Seventeen to K-III Communications in 1991. Primedia sold the magazine to Hearst in 2003. It is still in the...

 before she is seventeen. They all meet and see an eclipse

Eclipse

An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object is temporarily obscured, either by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer...

 of the sun together while learning about what's truly important in life and becoming better people.

Plot

12-year-old Ally lives at a campsite called The Moonshadow where she is homeschooled by her parents along with her 10-year-old brother Kenny. Although they don't have phone reception and have barely seen any TV in their lives, Ally loves The Moonshadow and her dream is to find one of the Messier Objects. She then discovers that her family is going to move to the city and she will be put in public school.
Meanwhile, 13-year-old Bree is 2nd most popular girl in her school and proud of it. She wants to become a Prom

Prom

In the United States and Canada, a prom, short for promenade, is a formal dance, or gathering of high school students. It is typically held near the end of the senior year. It figures greatly in popular culture and is a major event among high school students...

 Queen in high school and eventually be on the cover of Seventeen magazine before she's seventeen. Her family however, has other plans. She and her 11-year-old sister are going to move to The Moonshadow and take the place of Ally and her family as the caretakers of the campsite. Bree is appalled at the thought of moving and doesn't want to be homeschooled in the middle of nowhere.
13-year-old Jack only finds comfort in reading and drawing in his treehouse. His mom has been married four times and he has no friends, as well as being shy and slightly overweight. After failing science, he is faced with the choice of either attending summer school or going to The Moonshadow to watch an eclipse with his teacher. He chooses to go to The Moonshadow.
Eventually, all three children meet each other at The Moonshadow and form a unlikely friendship. Bree and Ally plot to convince their parents to change their minds about the move, but they fail in their attempt. Jack is smitten with Ally even though Ally's long-time friend believes that Ally is "just Ally" and that Bree is a hottie and "the drop-dead gorgeous one." Together, Jack, Bree, and Ally learn to accept how their lives are going to change and realize what is truly important in life. They witness the total eclipse and leave changed people.

Awards

Nominated for the:

Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award, Illinois, 2012
South Carolina Children's Book Award, 2011
Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Award, 2010–2011
Iowa Children's Choice Award, 2010–2011
Maud Hart Lovelace Award, Minnesota, 2010–2011
Black-Eyed Susan Book Award, Maryland, 2011
Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award, 2011
William Allen White Award, Kansas, 2011
Kentucky Bluegrass Award, 2010
New Hampshire Great Stone Face Book Award 2009-10
Chosen as a CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center) Choice Selection