The Stars Beneath Our Feet

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2018

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-6

Chapters 7-12

Chapters 13-18

Chapters 19-24

Chapters 25-30

Chapters 31-37

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Choose one recurring symbol—Harmonee, Vega’s Glock, the rock in Lolly’s chest, or Nicky the coyote—and explore its role in the narrative.

How does the relationship between Lolly and Rose evolve? How does Rose help Lolly grow as an artist? How does he help her?

Why do you think Moore chose to write the novel using Lolly’s first-person perspective? How does it affect how you experience the novel? How does it affect how you view Lolly?

Why does Lolly decide at the end of the novel to go by the full name Wallace? Is he embracing his father’s view of the name? Why or why not?

The events of The Stars Beneath Our Feet take place in Harlem, New York. How does Lolly describe Harlem? How does Lolly feel about Harlem?

Jermaine and Steve represent the two paths that Lolly and Vega could go down. What do Lolly and Vega think about these paths? Do they agree about what the choice would mean down the road?

How does Jermaine and Steve’s relationship mirror Lolly and Vega’s? How are Lolly and Vega similar to Jermaine and Steve? How are they different?

How does Lolly define art? Are Lolly and Rose’s Lego creations art? Why or why not?

What role does creativity play in Lolly’s life? How does it help him work through his grief?

10.

The novel’s title and epigraph are from a poem by Richard Chenevix Trench:

We have not met on earth again,

And scarcely shall; there doth remain

A time, a place where we shall meet,

And have the stars beneath our feet.

Rose also repeats a line from this poem in her mantra: “Rosamund, when you die, they bury you, but your soul flies to the stars. Your mama, your daddy—they were buried under the ground, but they’re stars now, girl, stars beneath our feet” (164). Why does Moore feature this poem so prominently in his novel?