Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler

Star Child
Ibi Zoboi
Dutton, 2022
114 pages
Grades 7-12
Biographical Poetry

An award winning novelist for young people turns her attention to a poetic love letter to her mentor, Octavia Estelle Butler. Poems, snatches of biological information, pages from the Butler's actual childhood journals, original quotes, and photos are all part of the format meant to expose readers to this great science fiction author. We trace Butler's life from her simple beginnings in 1947 born to a shoeshine man and house cleaner in California, through her dreamy childhood, and-finally-achieving her dreams of writing professionally the stories that she saw in her head. Her journey is plagued with "no's" and "cant's", yet Butler perseveres, eventually winning the coveted Nebula Award for outstanding science fiction. Zoboi ties in her experiences meeting Butler in her early career and how that time influenced her writing path. Notes at the end legitimize the author's research and move the book from the poetry shelves to biography, even though the format is less than conventional.

This is not my usual book. I picked it up for two reasons: the stunning cover and the fact that it was starred everyone I looked. The stars are for good reason. The book is amazingly written, impeccably researched, and carefully designed. Because of the author's previous work, the book has landed in the teen section. This is an example of a beautiful, wonderful book that, unfortunately, will not be read by teens, unless used for curriculum purposes. I doubt that they know who Octavia Butler is, nor have read her books yet. The short length may attract readers if the title lands on a reading list and it does read rather quickly. I loved the original photos included and snippets from Butler's journals, early stories, and even a report card. The poems are well constructed and some have original cadences and design. Even though I have never read anything myself of Butler's, Zoboi has encouraged me to pick one of her titles up-and that is probably the point. I am sure this book will desirably win awards, I'm just not sure how much traction it will get with the target audience.