See You On a Starry Night

Starry Beach Club #1

by Lisa Schroeder

Juliet has just moved to a beachside town with her newly separated mother and her moody older sister. When she meets their new neighbor, Emma, the girls form an instant bond. Emma's big family takes Juliet in, and the girls have fun together -- starting with the night they throw bottles with secret messages into the sea.

Then someone writes back to Juliet's message. An email arrives, inviting her to join the Starry Beach Club. All she has to do is make someone else's wish come true.

So Juliet and Emma set off to help as many other people as they can. It's fun! But as Juliet spends more and more time away from home, enjoying her new town and Emma's family more than her own mom and sister, she starts feeling lost. It's been easy to find others to help. But maybe her star would shine a little brighter if she brought it closer to home.

Genres: Middle Grade, Friendship, Realistic Fiction, Family, Contemporary, Divorce, School

246 pages, Hardcover

First published June 26, 2018

About the author

Lisa Schroeder is the author of more than twenty books for kids and teens. Her latest novel is A NIGHT TO DIE FOR, a YA murder mystery. She lives in Oregon where she works full-time and writes when she can.

twitter: www.twitter.com/lisa_schroeder
instagram: lisaschroeder15

Reviews

[Lisa]

Booklist says, "...there is an innocent optimism and positivity to the tale that is as sweetly refreshing as a dip in the ocean."

Publisher's Weekly says, "Schroeder offers solid character portraits and a reassuring tone that draws readers into Juliet's journey as she navigates her jumbled feelings, gains self-confidence and friends, and opens up to her evolving family dynamics."

***

My latest book is out now and I hope you'll check it out!

It's my message in a bottle book.
It's my help other people to help yourself forget about your own problems for a little while book.
It's my I survived divorce as a child and you can too book.
It's my I love Vincent van Gogh book.
It's my I wish I had a bookmobile in my neighborhood book.

[Kelly Hager · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not a huge fan of being in transit. I love being on vacation, but I hate the part where I'm actually traveling. I mention that because I ended up spending my most recent plane ride reading this book, and it was an excellent decision on my part.

Juliet is dealing with a lot of complicated things. Her parents are splitting up, which is hard enough. Her mom is moving (with Juliet and her sister, Miranda) to a new town where she doesn't know anybody AND it's in the middle of the school year, so everyone will already have friends. And her sister is constantly busy so Juliet is on her own a lot. 

But things start to turn around soon, because Juliet quickly makes a friend. The two girls quickly bond (and seriously, I love Emma and her family SO MUCH). This book is completely sweet but the thing I like most about it is that you can feel Lisa Schroeder's compassion for her characters. I'm reading this as an adult and it would be easy to dismiss Juliet as being moody and melodramatic but you can really feel that her tendency to get really angry really fast is because she's confused at her family splintering and the fact that all of a sudden, she only talks to her dad on the phone or via email. Her whole life has completely changed and she didn't have a say in it. Because of the way it's written, it's impossible to have anything but compassion for Juliet.

Like every other book Lisa Schroeder has written, this one is a must-read. Highly recommended.

[Gouri Verma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!!! I mean absolutely wow!!❤️❤️This was a very magical read!! Full of sweet wishes and impossible things💕💕 I was hooked from the start!! It is about a girl, Juliet, who has moved to a new home near a beach. And she makes a really good friend, Emma. Emma is a very sweet and caring girl and she loves Juliet as well! And the have a lot on their list to do💕💕

I really loved this magical read!! It was just so sweet! Moreover, it has a sequel which I am so excited to read🥳 I loved the author’s writing style💕 The atmosphere was very cozy and sweet!!💖

Loved it!!❤️

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great middle school chapter book written by my friend Lisa Schroeder. Good book for children of divorce who find their lives upended. In this case, it’s Juliet’s story of moving away, starting a new school, meeting new friends, and best of all, granting wishes. I loved the lists at the end of each chapter. Thank you to my 11 year old neighbor Brooklyn for loaning it to me.

[Izze Brand · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really good and interesting! Emma shows Leadership because she is always the first one to speak up and she was the one to first introduce herself to Juliet.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant and predictable. Throughout the '70's and '80's there seemed to be a plethora of books written about children dealing with divorce. Nowadays, although characters often hail from divorced households, divorce is rarely the central topic of discussion. See You on a Starry Night is focused on a sixth grade girl, Juliet, and the impact of her parents' separation.
Juliet is likable, if a bit antiseptic. She moves with her mother and older sister to Mission Beach, a suburb of San Diego. Immediately Juliet becomes friends with a fellow classmate, Emma, who invites her into her large and loving family. The two new friends attempt to make contact with a stranger via messages in bottles. The story revolves not only around the relocation but also the mysterious reply to Juliet bottle message.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read about friendship complete with a cast of wholesome characters and a satisfying ending.

[Reccabecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

So refreshing to read a book about friends without hints of romance. This is a quick read that will have you laughing and tearing up, a little. A sweet read.

[LaTanya]

I liked the story and she found a friend to help her cope with her parents divorce and I just like the idea of the story.

[Melissa T · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a super sweet story. It plays heavy on the theme of divorce and life after that, and making the best of new situations.

I loved Juliet's character. Her love of reading, love of making lists, and caution reminded me of myself. I like the secret club, the message in a bottle, and trying to do something nice by making one person's wish come true.

Friendship is a heavy theme here as well. Reading this made me wish I were 11 or 12 again, so I could go back and have the opportunity to make more lasting friendships that are easy, like the one between Juliet and Emma is.

The juxtapositions between Emma and Juliets' families is a nice touch.

Though the feeling and act of being brushed off from Juliet's mom bothered me. Juliet and Miranda both ask their mother at some point to explain why she moved them there, and why their parents are getting divorced in the first place, and over and over again she just says she doesn't want to talk about it. So that part of things felt unfinished to me.

This was a super quick, delightful read.

[AurorainBookland · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book a better star rating because it was a fun book

Mrs. Button's notebook of beautiful things was really lovely and Emma was a great friend and not the "perfect" friend clique she makes mistakes which was nice.

but

page 112 the list on this page of how having divorced parents feel for Juliet was an exaggeration and that isn't acknowledged

page 185 sincerely yours - um Juliet you don't know who this person is also sincerely yours makes it feel like some kid owns Juliet. Juliet is a person not a pet.
Sincerely your friend - might have been a better word choice but again she doesn't know this person so they are not friends so it should have just said
sincerely

and it gets worse

Emailing someone you don't know Juliet does this without any thought whatsoever didn't even talk to her mom about it. This is not safe at all Juliet was obviously not taught about online safety otherwise she wouldn't be emailing someone she doesn't know.
Some kid could have easily been someone pretending to be a kid to get her trust and then hurt her.

Making plans to meet a stranger again - internet safety rules not being followed and Emma goes along with it like it's nothing her family seems to have rules about everything so she should at least know internet safety and say "that's not safe..." or "Let's bring an adult with us"
But that didn't happen.

Some kid ended up being Carmen a girl Juliet and Emma's age but still internet safety needs to be taken seriously.

there was no note about internet safety at the end of the book saying how readers should NOT be emailing and meet up with people they didn't know.

another thing
"you're nice and normal and -," Emma talking about Carmen

adding normal was so uncalled for.

so disappointed.

[Susan Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lisa Schroeder writes such highly readable books that middle grade readers can relate to. Juliet has to move to San Diego when her parents separate. She struggles as she adjusts to life without her dad and with finding friends. One strategy she uses is making lists and each chapter ends with one. This would be a great mentor text for making lists during writing workshop as well as for discussing how kids push through troubling times.

[Rachel Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll give See You on a Starry Night a 2.5-star rating for what was a wholesome story about two girls granting wishes to others because they have joined a secret club all about wish-making—but it was a too-sweet, too-simple story for me to really love. Juliet is a sixth-grader whose parents have separated, and she moves with her mom and sister to a California beach away from her normal life. As an adult reading this book, I could certainly sense the different times that Juliet's anger and moodiness would be a running theme about her parents' separation and impending divoce, but I felt that Lisa Schroeder wrote them so erratically in the book that her outbursts didn't always make a lot of sense to me. And I suppose in real life, they could come at random times too; but there wasn't enough of Juliet diving into her feelings much beyond those random outbursts at either her mom or her new friend Emma.

It's also only through Emma that Juliet even seems like a normal pre-teen girl. She meets Emma on the beach soon after her arrival and they become inseparable, almost weirdly, because Emma acts less like Juliet's friend than another big sister type of figure, offering aphorisms and weirdly moral life lessons from one middle schooler to another. But Juliet's personality on her own doesn't come out very strongly to me, which is frustrating. Even through the sending of a message in a bottle out to the ocean and the responses the girls get from doing so don't seem to give Juliet much agency, despite them creating a club to grant wishes and trying to figure out who sent the message back to them—the resolution of this plot line was such a letdown, by the way, when the discover that the person writing the emails back to Juliet is a girl on the beach the same day they threw the bottle in the ocean, someone they go to middle school with, whose personality is never explained and they suddenly become instant friends at the end.

Also: a neurodivergent female character who has been described as "quirky" and who likes organizing things and making lists? Groundbreaking.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

When sixth grader Juliet's parents split up and her mother moves the family to the Mission Beach area of San Francisco, she feels lost and confused. While her older sister Miranda throws herself into prepping for a lifeguard test and making new friends, Juliet feels uncertain about herself and awkward when she talks to her father during his phone calls. A friendly local girl, Emma, takes her under her wing, and slowly, Juliet starts to trust again, partly thanks to Emma's own acceptance but also because of Emma's family's kindness. As Juliet worries about being singled out as odd by her new classmates, Emma shows her that it's perfectly acceptable to be yourself; in fact, Emma often sings her comments and is a little bit dramatic. The girls are thrilled when Juliet gets a response to a message she sent out in a bottle in the ocean, and are eager to meet this mysterious correspondent who suggests they form a club to help make others' wishes come true. This is a sweet, hopeful story that reminds middle grade readers that helping others actually ends up helping the ones who are doing the helping. The author doesn't really give the reasons for Juliet's parents' break-up, which I appreciated, and she also describes just how achingly lonely and lost this new girl feels, something with which many readers will be able to relate. This one is a good choice for a read aloud but also a great one to recommend to readers looking for characters who take action to make a difference in the lives of others, not to mention themselves.

[Katie Reilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Juliet, her older sister, and her recently separated Mom have moved four hours from their home so her mom can have a fresh start. Juliet’s struggling with the change that comes from moving to a new place mid-school year and navigating her new life without her dad living there. There are so many things to love about this MG novel!

1) The dedication. It’s heartfelt and reassuring to kids of divorced parents that they are amazing and cared about.

2) The lists. Lists about the main character, Juliet (Ways I Might be a Clever); lists about books (My Favorite Sad Books); lists about family (Things that Remind Me of My Dad) and more!

3) The themes: change can be scary; friendship; family; helping/doing good for others.

4) Emma (Juliet’s new friend) & her family

5) The conversations between Juliet and her older sister Miranda about their parents’ divorce. It’s honest, and it reminds kids that it’s not their job to make things easier on their parents.

6) The mystery of the message in the bottle!

Definitely a great add for my middle grade classroom!

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the Kid Lit Exchange network for a free review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
See You on a Starry Night is a great, contemporary middle grade read- the perfect beach read for tweens.
Juliet, a "quirky" girl who loves art and making lists, has just had her whole life uprooted. Her parents are divorcing and her mom has moved her and her big sister away from their hometown to a cottage on the beach. Everything feels wrong to Juliet, but then she meets Emma, an outgoing, fun loving girl. Emma and Juliet decide to send out a message in a bottle out to the ocean-and to their surprise, someone writes back to Juliet, asking her to make wishes come true in her neighborhood.
This is a simple, sweet story about a girl dealing with her family falling apart and starting over. This reminded me of the middle grade books I read when I was young and I loved the simplicity and the realistic, everyday life portrayal of Juliet.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars
Reviewed for www.compassbookratings.com

Overall Review:
"Sometimes, I think people forget you can be happy and sad at the same time. But the world doesn't want to see sadness, so we learn how to push it down. Hide it. Keep it a secret. Even though we probably shouldn't, because everyone feels sad now and then" -- Lisa Schroeder, See You on a Starry Night.

See You on a Starry Night tackles the heavy topic of divorce with optimism, hope, and love. Penned by Lisa Schroeder, the story follows sixth grader Juliet as she tries to navigate life after her parents' split. The book has strong characters, a solid plot, and a great message, but doesn't sugar-coat the pain of divorce. Each chapter uniquely ends with a bulleted list that pertains to Juliet's feelings at the moment. See You on a Starry Night is a thoughtful and heartfelt book that will be enjoyed by all readers.

Review of Advance Reading Copy

For full content analysis, go to www.compassbookratings.com

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! It has been a LONG time since I have read a more powerfully simple middle grade book. The characters are real and relatable. It is hard for me to explain but I found the whole thing refreshing to read and I could not put it down once I started. I am NOT a child of divorce, but the MCs problems with divorce and change were not selfish or whiny. She was able to make good choices by THINKING before she would act or speak. The people she encountered were real and approachable. I found myself wanting to move to the seaside town she had moved to. The things she did to find peace-making lists, baking, spending time on the beach and/or with friends, all resonate as real things to do to work thru feelings. There were so many good analogies that I wanted to write down and keep. I plan to write more in my journal (probably in LIST form :)) and I will be buying this book for my GREAT READS collection! I highly recommend for 3rd grade on up!

[Bish Denham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice read. I didn't care for the mom, but (spoiler alert) she was redeemed at the end, so that was good. I liked Miranda, Juliet's older sister, who was good to her little sister and seemed, on the surface, to be ok, but was hurting just as much as Juliet. Juliet couldn't have asked for a better friend in Emma, though I wish there had been a bit more interaction with Juliet and Emma's other friends. I do 100 percent believe that kids can be instant best friends, because it happened to me when I was 11 when I met my best friend (who happened to a boy) and we were instantly inseparable.

I loved the idea of a notebook of beautiful things and digging a hole (handy if you live on a beach) to put your anger in and then covering it up.

The author had many nice sentences, but I copied this one: "I was a like a kite that looked fine in the store but didn't fly so well once you tried it out." So simply and so descriptive.

[Ciara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Juliet isn't happy about moving to a beach town, because it means her parents will be separated and she'll be away from her best friend. But when she moves and meets Emma, things start looking up. Emma's family becomes an escape from her troubles, and when the two girls are asked by a mysterious person to help make wishes come true after they send out messages in bottles, Juliet feels like maybe she'll like it here after all. And she learns that maybe her family really is what she needs; it just took her time to see it.

Overall I think this is a sweet and touching story. Juliet is a likable, realistic character that young girls can relate to. I also liked the emphasis on helping others and the delightful solution to the mystery. For a middle school girl who is dealing with separated parents or moving to a new place, this is a great pick.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore Lisa Schroeder's contemporary middle grade novels. I always seem to get through them in less than a day, because I can't put them down. Juliet is still processing her parent's divorce when her mom moves her and her older sister to their grandparent's beach house in San Diego. She misses friends and teachers back home, and wonders how a family can just break apart. Fortunately, she quickly meets Emma, an outgoing girl her age, and they decide to throw messages in bottles out to sea with their email addresses attached. Juliet is shocked to find she gets a response the next day! The email encourages Juliet and Emma to go make the townsfolk's wishes come true. I adore this heartfelt, upbeat mystery. Lisa Schroeder knows just how to write family and friendships!

[Sarah Pickering · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a sweet story I can't wait to read the next book. I love reading about the beach! The message in the bottle idea sounds so much fun I really did thought it was Henry who was emailing Juliet but Carmen sounds really sweet. One thing that made my heart happy was Juliet loves to read books,and make tons of lists just like Me! She even inspired me with some lists ideas I totally want to make. If you love reading about the beach,girls who love to make dreams come true,and making new friends you will love this book!! Lisa Schroeder is such a great writer ! Her stories hooked you up right at the first sentence. I have a lot of books by her on my TBR list for 2021 that I am dying to read.

[Deena Lipomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Juliet wonders how she can be happy moving to the beach when it is the middle of the school year and her parents are getting divorced, but through a new friend and connections with her neighbors, she begins to find the good in her situation. With a realistic look at being the child of divorced parents, including the secrets and adult reasons for the divorce that can frustrate kids, this middle grade novel has great feeling and heart. The setting makes it a perfect summer read, and the talk of food and recipes will make the reader hungry. One question remains unsolved, but doesn't change the nature of this lovely book.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book about Juliet, an 11-year-old whose parents are divorcing. Juliet and her mother and sister move from Bakersfield to San Diego during Spring Break -- and Juliet misses Bakersfield! Well, sure she does, her best friend and her Dad are still there, and she doesn't know anyone in San Diego. But on the beach she meets a girl who is throwing a message in a bottle out to sea, and the girl, Emma, has an extra bottle she shares with Juliet. The story spends a couple of weeks with Juliet and her fears and hopes as her friendship with Emma develops. I think this book would make a great summer vacation read for an 8-12 year old.

[Janet Kloewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This book was a great read. I would highly recommend it to any middle schooler (girls especially) whose family is going through a divorce.

But “See You on a Starry Night” was more than just a book about families and separation. It was full of so many sweet moments - making new friends, young people connecting with older people, family members growing in their understanding of one another. Not to mention that it had two of my absolute favorite things - books and a beach town.

If you are looking for a quick and beautiful story, you will be more than pleased with “See You on a Starry Night”, by Lisa Schroeder.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating from Tali

Tali, age 11: “it was good. A Girl moves to the beach after her parents get divorced. He thinks she’ll hate it but eventually she loves it”

Mom: I read this to the kids at bedtime. 13 year old boys didn’t really care for it. They didn’t dislike it, but it didn’t hold their interest. It dealt a lot with the main character’s feelings about her parents’ divorce: disbelief, anger, sadness, confusion, etc., along with dealing with a move, new school, trying to make new friends, etc. would be good for someone going through the same situation, and can help kids sympathize with other kids.

[Julie Jordan Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was attracted to this book because I thought the Starry Night would qualify for DARK in an October Reading Challenge, but instead I was continually perplexed by the accurate place naming in Bakersfield, where I lived for thirty years. That and how could a twelve-year-old rather be in Bakersfield than San Diego?

That aside, it was much like reading a cozy mystery for adults I read for self-care only this was for middle grade readers. It was an enjoyable, non-threatening read.

What I loved the most were the lists Juliet made and I could relate entirely to being quirky, something Juliet didn't like..... which I can understand since I don't like being called weird or a freak.

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this cute middle grade book. It’s about a girl whose parents have just divorced and she’s moved to a new place. It deals with these situations in a realistic way and would be perfect for preteens who are trying to adjust to a new way of life (divorce, big move, etc). It’s also very much about friendships as well.
The characters were great and I loved the setting of the beach. A perfect summer read!

[Janelle Hackbarth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much, that I delayed the review because I thought there was more to read.

This story is good for children looking for a little beachy-fun in the spring, or even for children going through their parents divorce. I loved Emma and her family and how they were so welcoming to Juliet (main character). I felt I was there with them through the wonderfully described settings and enjoyed all the supporting cast.

If this book has a sequel, I'm buying it. Great book!

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Juliet is faced with so many stressors: her parents are separated, her family moves in the middle of a school year, and she feels adrift (since her Mom and sister are dealing with their own issues and are mostly out of the picture). Enter Emma, a new friend, who helps her sort out her feelings and embarks on a series of missions to help others -- and in so doing -- focus on others' needs instead of her own. Many Van Gogh references. I liked Juliet's lists, too.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book i was so happy with it and i think it is just amazing. It is about a girl named Juliet and how she moves to a beach house but her mom and dad are divorced and she never really gets to see her dad and her new best friend create a club to try to help people and they help one of the local hotel keepers and bring them soup but the next day he is in the hospital did her soup make him sick or will he die you have to read the book to find out.