Gillian McDunn has done it again! THESE UNLUCKY STARS is an absolutely charming middle grade novel. This is your next classroom read aloud.

Annie, the main character, has told herself that she is cursed with bad luck in her life. Annie's adventures over the summer teach her otherwise. Annie 'accidentally' meets an old craggy lady by the name of Gloria. She ends up helping and keeping Gloria company. Through their friendship, they both learn some valuable lessons about life. Annie is able to learn from her father the real reason her mother left the family. During the summer, the whole town comes together to put on a festival that will lighten everyone's spirits.

As an educator, I highly recommend this book. This is a charming book full of figurative language. It lends itself to wonderful conversations about embracing the good and bad in life. As best said in the book, "Life is lucky and unlucky mixed togther."

I love Gillian McDunn's books, so I was thrilled to get an e-galley. Lucky me!

There are so many things that pulled me into THESE UNLUCKY STARS—feisty senior citizen Gloria, adorably-ugly Otto the dog, Annie’s strained relationships with her brother and dad.

But what I loved most is what makes a Gillian McDunn story special—at its core is a very real girl with flaws and insecurities and blind spots who learns to be a better version of herself with the help of her community. 12-year-old me needed to see imperfect heroines like Annie.

Also it’s so funny—JACKIE ZPUDZZ forever!

These Unlucky Stars is a lovely look at family, community and friendships. I particularly liked the intergenerational element of the story and think we can all benefit from interacting with people several decades older, or younger, than us! With Gloria and Annie I liked how they both contributed to the relationship and both benefitted.

This story takes place during the summer between Annie's 6th and 7th grade years. Over the course of the summer Annie struggles with what she believes is a lifetime of bad luck. The story addresses friendships, sibling rivalry, and relationships with parents so I think it will be appealing for middle grade readers.

With thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Children's Books for an early copy in return for an honest review.

These Unlucky Stars has a whole lot to love about it! Our main character lives with her brother Ray and her dad in a small town that has the charm of a hallmark movie town, with restaurants and shops that are run by the town citizens. Because some of the only memories that Annie has of her mother was her mom telling her that she is unlucky, Annie focuses so much of the bad luck that follow her, everything she touches, and everyone she encounters. When a prank gone wrong lands her with an opportunity to get to know Gloria, an older neighbor who has lived an interesting life, Annie gets to learn so much more about life, her history and herself. The story is heartwarming, the characters are lovable, the family dynamics are relatable, and the messages are meaningful.

I adored the book, These Unlucky Stars. I think it was a beautiful story that focuses on a character who had room to grow, and she did beautifully. I would absolutely bring this book into my classroom for a read aloud or as a small group novel. The characters are relatable and teach an amazing lesson.

Annie feels like she was born unlucky. Her twin brother is perfect and never makes mistakes. While Annie tends to cause a mess wherever she goes. In a game of Ding, Dong, Ditch, Annie's choice to ring an elderly woman's doorbell causes the woman to fall. This leads to Annie feeling guilty and spending her summer helping the elderly woman in order to make amends.

I received this e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I loved McDunn's first two novels, so I was thrilled to get a copy of this one. Annie P. Logan has believed all her life that she was born under an unlucky star. As the school year finishes up, a teacher brings to her attention that she has doesn't have a single friend of her own. She finds a possible friend in Faith, and one day at the park, Tyler dares her to Ding Dong Ditch the house across the street. The prank that never happens, changes her summer and her life.

Annie is a great character, and as she learns more about Ms. Gloria Crumb, she finds out so much about herself. It's a great story that I think will be well loved by middle grade readers!

I really wanted to love this book. I loved the title, loved the cover artwork, and loved the idea behind it, however, I thought much of the book fell flat.

The characters were not well- rounded, and seemed to be very plain. The writing left a bit to be desired as well. I kept hoping for the book to get better, and to draw me in more to where I actually cared about the characters but it never happened. The book told me a story rather than showed me a story.

The whole thing with luck? The way that it was written was frustrating. The idea was that Annie was convinced that she was unlucky - born under unlucky stars. Her mother had left the family and she didn't see that this affected others besides herself. She also felt that things would always go wrong because of her luck, not because of her own choices, or because sometimes we don't always get what we want.

I wanted to love her relationship with Gloria, however, it seemed forced. One day she's there and they are arguing, the next they seem to be best friends. How did that happen? Gloria also seemed to begin every sentence with "pish" which absolutely drove me nuts.

The book seemed to draw on longer than it needed to as well and I had to force myself to finish.

I will try something else by this author in the future to see if maybe this is just a book that didn't agree with me.

- Read as an ARC on NetGalley

Gillian McDunn’s These Unlucky Stars is a beautiful look at family, community, and the way we are sometimes the unreliable narrator of our own story.


Sixth-almost-Seventh grader Annie Logan was told she was born under an unlucky star. Her window breaks, her books fall into a mud puddle, and she doesn’t have a single friend. Her favorite place in the world is a patch of her roof just outside her window, where she can see the mountains and feel the breezes they send her. When a ding-dong-ditch attempt goes south, Annie finds her fate intertwined with the person she was going to prank: an elderly woman named Gloria and her questionable dog.

As the summer commences and Annie finds herself making friends in unexpected places, she may just find the community she’s been searching for was there all along, if only she can learn to see it.

This middle grade novel tackles several big themes kids can relate to, from struggling to make friends to sibling rivalry to being abandoned by a parent. Each difficult topic is handled gracefully and tenderly. The reader gets to be inside Annie’s head, seeing her experiences through her eyes. As Annie learns to look outward more and open herself up, she may find that the only unlucky star in her sky is the one she painted there.

This tender story also tackles the hardship of loving an elderly person, including if that person struggles with memory issues and medical issues. Annie has tough decisions to make as her elderly friend asks Annie to withhold potentially dangerous information from a caregiver.

This novel was beautifully written with spectacular descriptions, well developed characters, and a well placed plot. As Annie learns self-awareness, it encourages others to look at her differently as well. Anyone who has ever felt like the odd one out will be able to find themselves in this sweet story.

These Unlucky Stars by Gillian McDunn will be released March 2, 2021. Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA Children’s Books for the advanced copy!

This book was really sweet. I found Annie a little annoying at first - even though her "bad luck" was one of the points of the story/her main character trait, it felt like it was mentioned just a little too often. However, I ended up really enjoying the relationship between Annie and Gloria and the character growth throughout the book.

Annie's relationship with her family was particularly moving, if tough to read about. Annie is convinced that no one wants her; her mother left, and she's sure that her father and brother wishes her mom took her when she left. After all, her father's store is Logan and Son - he won't add 'and Daughter" to it. Her father doesn't understand how artistic she is and how important this is to her. The way they interact as a family who don't quite get enough other - or know what is going on in each other's lives - felt very real and sad.

Overall, I enjoyed this a lot. Some sort of irritating beats and I wish we had gotten to see the final scene play out completely, but it didn't ruin the story as a whole.