Stella by Starlight

Stella uses her typewriter to begin a pretend newspaper called “STELLA’S STAR SENTINEL.” She writes about Roosevelt winning a landslide victory in the presidential election and compares Papa’s vote to a pebble: “Lots of pbbles pebbles make a landslide, right? his vote counted [sic]” (237). 

Papa sends Stella to fetch Doc Hawkins for JoJo, who has been struck by illness. At Doc Hawkins’s house, Tony agrees to send his father. Stella leaves to buy cough remedies; within a few minutes Tony joins her, and they walk together, discussing Doc Hawkins. They agree that Tony’s father is just as skilled a doctor as Dr. Packard. Once in town, Tony goes to buy chocolate at Mrs. Cooper’s candy store. In the general store, Mr. O’Brian suddenly creates a half-price sale on the medicines for JoJo so that Stella will have enough cash to pay for them. He also gives her a warm cinnamon cookie. She leaves to meet up with Tony for the walk back home, but outside, two white men, Max Smitherman and Johnnyray Johnson, harass her about her reason for being in the store: “Maybe she went in there and voted for the cookie” (247).

Johnny Ray steals the cookie and eats it despite Stella’s protests. When Tony arrives, Stella tries to pull him away from the harassers, but they accuse Tony of stealing candy. When Tony says he did not steal, the two men begin to beat and kick him. Stella runs to Mrs. Cooper first, who promises to help, then runs home to tell Dr. Hawkins. The doctor leaves the Millses’ house at once. Her parents assure Stella that she did the only thing she could in running for help, but Stella is upset at abandoning Tony: “I just left him lying there on the ground—bleeding!” (251).

Stella writes a pretend article for STELLA’S STAR SENTINEL about the attack on Tony. She reveals that Mrs. Cooper and Mr. O’Brian came to Tony’s aid and that his father Dr. Hawkins and Papa brought him to the Hawkinses’ house. Tony is physically all right but not his usual cheerful self.

Mama stays home Sunday morning to tend to JoJo. Stella stays home as well, and as JoJo sleeps, she goes with Mama into the woods to collect elderberries, mint, arnica, and willow bark. Mama tells Stella what she will use each for. They are surprised to find figs, which Stella collects for a pie, and stinkbugs, which Mama warns Stella not to squish. Looking for willow bark, Mama tells Stella to be careful of snakes in the dead wood. Stella is amazed at Mama’s knowledge in the woods: “How do you know all this?” (262). Mama responds that she learned from her mother, just as she is showing Stella.

In a new article for her pretend newspaper, Stella considers the topic of one’s gifts. She mentions Mama’s knack for cures and teas made from berries and plants. Stella knows that one of her own gifts is appreciating books; she would like to visit the library, but it is not a place she is allowed to go. She is still not certain that one of her gifts is writing. 

At school the next week, Stella is at first excited to see that they have received donated books from Mountain View School, but most of them are defaced or unusable textbooks. Stella’s mood sours and parallels the rainy, gray weather outside. Next Mr. Stinson the mailman arrives with the contest results. Mrs. Grayson announces that Helen Spencer is the winner of the high school division. Stella is happy for Helen but feels disappointed too: “She was truly glad that Helen would get the prize money—her family needed it for sure. So why did she feel so low?” (271).