I'm sorry that I couldn't get into this book. Somewhere I missed that this involved a child's death and I just can't deal with those type of books right now. Thanks anyway!

This book was heart wrenching and covers the loss of a young child and the effects it has on a family. The characters are realistic and flawed as all humans are. It's a true to life representation of emotions. The journey the members of this family take is emotional and in the end, empowering. Great story, wonderfully created characters and a smooth flowing writing style. Well done!

The cover is beautiful and the synopsis sounded right up my wheel house but I tried and tried to get into this book and just couldn't. Thanks for sending me a copy.

Sorry - just couldn't get into this book. Will try again later.

Beautifully written...I loved this story. Have recommended it to all of my reading friends.

What. A. Book!!!!!
This is a great story for reading out loud.
Very well-written, we were 'inside of it' from the first page - and totally
unprepared for what was coming (just like the storyteller, & her family....)
Surely the author has experienced something similar, to know so much
of what it feels like. It is good to be reminded that for the immediate
family, life never returns to 'normal'; indeed a new 'normal' must be found.
Being written from a child's point of view, it is a very different story than
if it had been told from an adult's perspective.
With just enough touches of humour to lighten a weighty subject, this
story is both moving & profound.
One of those rare, special books which catches you up right from the
start - & which you never want to end...
We will certainly be looking out for more from this writer!

What a great but sad novel for a first novel. It really delved into an area most do not when dealing with the loss of a child from a tragic accident and how it affects everyone in the family. The heartbreak the author writes of how the family reacts sometimes made me think I was not reading a fiction novel I highly recommend this book.

Stars in the Grass is an incredible loving heart tugging book. Abby is met up with something I hope and pray y'all don't go through it, but it is an all too familiar thing that happen to people on a daily basis. Abby's family is falling to pieces but not falling apart. They are Christians, her father is the Reverend and he is hiding away from GOD by just dealing with things by running, disappearing during his runs, having a hard time spreading the Word of GOD - his heart is in pieces. Then there is Abby's Mom who is trying to do everything for everyone to keep everyone together while she knows everything is falling to pieces and so is she. Who is going to take care of her if she is taking care of everyone else )how about GOD - lean on GOD - that is what I would do ) Then there is Abby's brother Matt who feels broken hearted and has withdrawn totally. He has locked up it all and threw away the key (accept there is one person who has that key - JESUS - AMEN?) He acts out by making friends who really aren't good friends, smoking and drugs, he hides from the one person who needs him the most - Abby. Everyone has become someone else and hopefully they all can adapt to the new selves and turn to lean on GOD before they lose each other for the bad. This book touches the heart on so many levels and my eyes haven't cried so much in a while. You get so emotionally attached to the characters and that is due to the credit of the author. Will the family grow together again? Will they grow close to GOD again?

Ann Marie Stewart's book:  "Stars In The Grass", is an autobiography of the tragedy she & her family went through, after the death of her 3 year old brother, as a 9 year old child. It was published 02/01/2017 by Shiloh Run Press of Barbour Publishing, Inc..
     Grief is a very difficult thing to go through; & each person in the family deals with it differently. Each family members relationship with God & with each other dramatically change too. Read how this this 1970s Minister's Family handled their grief.
     I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley, & voluntarily chose to review it.

What happens to a pastor's family when the beloved youngest son dies? Stars in the Grass explores just that. Joel, the youngest, age 3, dies unexpectedly and suddenly in the beginning of the book, which is narrated by the 9-year-old middle child and only daughter, Abby. The remainder of the book follows the family as they struggle to cope with their grief and maintain their faith in God. Each remaining family member - father John, mother Renee, 15-year-old Matthew - deal with (or don't deal with) their grief in different way, not all healthy, all realistic. I appreciated that I couldn't predict how it would end and I did think it ended well. Highly recommended.

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is raw, moving and stunning tale from the perspective of Abby. A bright young girl with a broken heart and broken family. After a tragic accident, this family tries to put the pieces back together, but can't seem to find their way. The writing in this story is excellent. It will make you view matters in your own life differently.

Drew me into the lives of the McAndrews family. Felt I was part of the tragedy dealing with my own feelings of loss and feeling powerless. A strong story that draws you in and doesn't shake loose easily

This is a story of loss told by a 9-year-old little girl in 1970. This is a time when I was growing up and experiencing losses in my family so a lot about this story is the same as mine and yet very different. I enjoyed the references to many of the things that were popular during that time -- toys, TV shows, etc. They brought back good memories to me. But, if you are younger and this is just a time in history, you will still like this book!

A loss in a family affects each member differently and how they cope and react affects the family as a whole. This is the basis of this family's story. You will want to read to the very end to see exactly how things turn out whether everything resolves and they move on or if they are irreparably broken. That is your job though to follow their paths and see where they end up. It is a charming and very sad but touching story. I will hold it in my thoughts for some time to come.

I absolutely loved this book! I laughed and cried through it. It is written from a nine year old girl's perspective after her family suffered a horrific tragedy. I felt what each family member went through as they each tried to deal with their grief and despair. The dad, who is supposed to be the 'rock' leaves his pastorate position to spend his days in the basement of their home repairing clocks questioning God and even the existence of Him. The mom tries her best to stay strong. An emotional read that I highly recommend.

First off I'm going to warn you this is an emotional read. It's moving, it's raw, it's heartbreaking. I loved it! I loved the emotions and the heartbreaking honesty of it all. Abby is our narrator, she's young and full of life, until tragedy strikes. Something that shakes her whole world. Her whole family's world. It shakes them all to the core and yet the world keeps spinning on and everyone else seems to be unaffected by their deep grief and loss. Abby is very perceptive and is stuck in this struggle to help her family as she watches them all shift and change and yet she is unable to help herself.

I loved the writing style and was amazed that this was Ann Marie Stewart's debut fiction novel. To me if felt as if she had been writing for years and years with the way she portrayed the characters, the emotions, the healing and all the ugly in between.

I could not even imagine what it would be like to lose a child, especially a young child who is so full a vibrant with life and love to a tragic accident. How would I respond and react? Would my world completely crumble? Would I be able to keep moving forward through the pain and sorrow to care for my other children? I've had several dear friends have children die, as babies on up to teenagers/early twenties. These babies and youth were so loved and my heart broke and ached for these dear parents. My youngest is a couple years older than Joel, who is our little hero who dies. Oh, I know this is fictional but it happens and it really shakes a family up. As I was reading I couldn't help but think about my little one and imagining not having her smile and laugh and silly antics and yes even the meltdowns to fill our days. Last year was a hard year as my family dealt with a near loss of a family member to having another family member tragically killed. So many emotions that have to be sorted through and allowed to process in our minds and hearts. The grief can be so all consuming. I think between those above mentioned experiences and watching friends lose their beloved children, this book really touched me and pulled on my heart strings.

Abby's father is the Reverend at their church. He is so strongly affected by the loss of his little boy that his ability to live and cope consists of waking, running, disappearing during his runs, coming home and disappearing to his little workshop. No more can he fathom preaching good news when his heart is breaking.

Abby's brother Matt feels so grief stricken he shuts off and walks away from everything he loved. He makes new friends, tries smoking and drugs and hides away all his pain. He pulls away from his relationship with Abby, the one who desperately needs her big brother to help her, but how can she help him.

Abby's mom is left trying to hold everyone and everything together when it feels like sand pouring through her fingers. She can't get a grasp on anything as it continues to slip away. Everyone is changed, she is changed and she has to keep embracing the new person that she is and hope that the rest of the family can also embrace who they have now become through this experience.

Our lives and who we are, they are in constant motion, ever changing. We are never going to be the same person we were a year ago, a day ago. Why? Because every experience we have changes us. We learn, we make a choice, those choices and moments enlighten us to how we want to make further changes. I loved watching that happen to these characters in this book. After last year, I am no longer the person I was then. I hold everyone closer, I reach out more to those loved ones and friends I've lost contact with because we never know who needs us, who else is hurting, who else is struggling to find the person they have become through hard moments in life.

This is so beautifully written. I feel it is something that middle school aged children should read. It's a tough read but very compelling. To be in the mind of little Abby, you could relate to the mind of any young child going through a loss in their lives, be it death, divorce, loss of friendships, hardships at school, anything that can affect them strongly emotionally.

This book does talk about God and Christ and life and loss. I loved it! I wanted to put it away at a couple points because of the emotions and wanting to but being unable to help Abby. And yet, I kept reading because I couldn't put it down. We were driving for a work trip for my husband and I read the whole time. I know and believe that death is not the end, and for me that brings peace and comfort even through the tragedy. I will be with my family again. I know not everyone believes what I believe and that's ok, whatever your beliefs I think this is one of those books that can be read and enjoyed by anyone of any religion or non-religious beliefs. Another book similar to this that I absolute loved was, Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie.

Here are a few quotes that I loved from this book(sorry if you're searching for the end of this review...I just had so many thoughts swirling through my mind and they kept coming as I sat down to right this)

~The summer before I turned ten was idyllic-until August 3, 1970. At the time I didn't know what that word meant, not having heard it in a sermon or one of Mom's vocabulary lessons. But it perfectly describes a time when I thought the world was safe and good things lasted forever. What I couldn't know then, but try to remember now, is how fragile and delicate are the moments we most treasure, and if they break into pieces, repairing means seeing anew.

~"Gossamer," she said softly. "What's that?" Matt asked. "Something delicate." Mom closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. "Sort of how this night feels." "Gossamer...," I whispered, trying it on for size.

~The lady was a mind reader. How maddening. I frowned so hard it hurt.

~If you had lots and lots of happiness, you didn't appreciate it; but if you had a sliver, it was worth so much more. Tonight we all had a sliver.

~Five minus one divided by two equaled two, but we were lonely twosomes. If we were talking accounting, the minuses outweighed the plusses, and I missed being a family.

~If Mom had hope, then I knew our painting had a source of light. I didn't know what it was, but something made the drab colors brighten.

~"It kind of feels like this year slowed down, didn't it?" he asked. "Like there's a lot of gravity. The more gravity, the more time slows down." That made sense. Things had been pretty grave around here and definitely slow. Gravity.

~And maybe this was what heaven felt like: when you wanted a moment to go on forever.

~For any of you who have been through a dark tunnel, you know what it means when someone takes you by the hand and leads you to the light.

~Was there a word bigger than hope?

~I am like Joel. I never want good things to end. When I unwrap Christmas presents, I dread opening the last one. At night, when Mom scratches my back, I don't want her to leave until her tender caress soothes me to sleep and into my dreams. And how can I enjoy the Fourth of July fireworks when each explosion of color might mark the grand finale? It's almost as though I need to know exactly how long the light show will last so that I can anticipate the dark.

~It was a silly thing to do, but we all lay down on the porch with our heads on the step below, for a moment looking at the world upside down to see what Joel saw. Joel's world, and now ours, was lit with twinkling lights flickering through the grass, a miracle simple enough to grasp in our hands and our hearts.

~And I remember that when the world seems most upside down, sometimes, if you look, you can see stars in the grass.

Content: I think I disclosed that with my review, loss and healing and everything in between. Clean read with some religious aspects, mention of drug and alcohol use and the ill effects, a silly moment about where babies come from.

I received a copy from the publisher, Shiloh Run Press, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Happy Reading!!!

Some books grab you right at the start and never let go even after the story is finished. This book is one of those. From the beginning it had me crying as I read the horrific tragedy that the McAndrews family went through. I could see the family in shock and feel their despair as a life slowing passed away. Every moment seemed like it was in slow motion as the family tried to get through each day. The author has written a story that you will not forget as you ponder questions. How would you react if you saw a family member die right before your eyes? Could you work through your grief or stay bitter for years?

I loved the way the author tells the story through the eyes of a young child. It is a chilling and emotional journey as the family tries to continue their normal routine. The father is a preacher who must deal with his faith and continue to lead his congregation. When he shuts down what will happen to his church? Can he find his way back to God? We always hear that things happen for a reason. For this family they will each grieve in different ways and perhaps find answers that will help them heal.

I don't know how I would react to a tragedy like the one in the story, but the author does an amazing job of showing us the different ways that people handle grief. Some may turn their backs on everyone while others cry out for help. The book reached deep into the emotions of a family and delivers a powerful story of faith and hope that will leave readers emotionally drained. Will the family ever be close again? Does guilt turn into bitterness? Don't miss this story from an author that has the ability to make you feel the emotions of the characters with realism.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

I did something I don't normally do before reading a book I'm to review. I read other reviews first and to be quite honest it made me unsure if I wanted to read the book. Why? Well, the reviews made the book seems depressing and sad and I don't like to read books that fall into those two categories. Since I had agreed to read and review the book for the publisher I put aside my thoughts and started reading.

The premise of this book is quite simple: the struggles of a family to move on after tragedy strikes. The story is told through the eyes of nine-year-old Abigail, or Abby. The story isn't told in a childish voice though as Abby was almost wise beyond her years. She is very observant and almost seemed to be another victim of the tragedy as her family at times was on the verge of spiraling out of control.

I thought the story seemed very realistic. The characters actions and feelings came across as realistic and not romanticized or exaggerated in any way. The story is basically the everyday events in this family's lives and how each responded to grief in their own way. Each family member dealt with their grief in a different way and I thought that made the story seem more genuine.

The author's writing style and way of telling a story made it easy to get "into" the story and stay interested until the end. The story flowed easily from chapter to chapter. While the story is sad and a bit depressing at times I found it easy to read and didn't find myself wanting to put the book down.

This was a well-written book but just not my type of everyday read. If you are looking for a break from the genre you normally read or are wanting a bit of a sad read then pick up this book. You might find yourself enjoying it.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and was not required to write a review.

I have been invited with joy by Barbour to read Stars in the Grass by Ann Marie Stewart and I accepted with great enthusiasm. The book launched this February First.
I finished to read the book right now and the end is so moving.

In our area there are fireflies. We have
many of them during the long summer nights and I have always felt great fascination for these wonderful creatures real lanterns during the obscurity.

This one is not a light book although the title would express it.


Realistically it's the story of a family who loses its own religious identity after the abrupt departure of little Joel the third beloved son of this very religious couple while in vacation.

John, the dad of Joel is the pastor in fact of the Bethel Spring Episcopal Church. Everyone loves him and his family.

His wife Renee loves to play the organ during the mass and the children, Matt the oldest ones, then Abigail or Abby (the name as explained in the book because of the Bible and because of a first Lady of a President very appreciated) and Joel the latest one.
The scenario the one of the early 70s.

Yes: it is true that the elaboration of a loss is different from person to person. Some of us feel a biggest connection with God, Angels, other close every door with God.

It happens this to the McAndrews, the protagonist of this story and mainly not to everyone, but in particular to John.

John can't celebrate anymore mass, can't anymore to be a good pastor for his sheep because simply he can't anymore believe that His God can have decided to "kill" his beloved son. Why? How can it be possible?

The narrative voice of a now grown up Abigail, at that time just 9 years old, who, devastated for the loss of his brother, at the same time was seeing that other things were not going on well.

First of all, her family was collapsing.

John completely uninterested at his family, stopped to follow his children and started to fix compulsively clocks of every sorta and genre.

Time: maybe John wanted just to fix Time, but time can be fixed? Time can we heal us and when? Can we return in the past, and changing a special moment of our life? Can we do that?

If we would do that, our life would be surely more perfect, but...

Are we here for a perfect trip or for a road that someone asked us to live for some certain reasons and that sometimes can be also difficult to live?

They're big questions.

And in these big questions, left alone by two parents who couldn't cope with maturity at this departure, it's in fact the lost of a child the most tremendous and horrible pain existing in this world, Matt, the oldest son of John and Renee starts to be always more wild and messy, and Abby more worried for...everyone.

For Matt, for her mom for her dad, for herself, because she would want to try, in the big pain that they are living to return at being, just being the pale idea of the family that they were before this nightmare changed thir existence.

Renee, her mom, tried all her best for sorting out the problems with her husband because of course in love with him but later she will also take a drastic decision.

John too "buried." Buried in company of his clocks, and when not in the basement for fixing them with great enthusiasm, at the cemetery for visiting Joel, that not yet 4 years old son disappeared too soon.

Matt will remarks him that it will be important to live...

Stars in the Grass is a story of hope and re-born after a lot of messes and after maybe the consciousness that life goes on also if a person dies and we must go on because the show must go on and because we can't do differently and because if we are here there is a precise purpose.

The book has been written very well, never boring, my favorite character uncle Troy, a real savior and a real angelic presence for this family.

I admit that his presence when he was around warmed the heart.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Barbour Publishing for the advanced copy of this book and good luck! for the launch!

This book is a plus for me because it's told in 1st person and that would be 9 year old Abby.
This book is very emotional and will have you crying in most places of the book as the family struggles through the death of a loved one.
Abby and Matt took it the hardest especially Abby. I felt like they left her out of everything as each one tried to grieve on their own.
I can relate to Abby in many ways. Grief strikes each person differently and grief has no time.
Like Abbys dad says there is a place and time for everything and a time to heal and a time for growth.
He also said that God didn't run away from him, He ran away from God.
I think in some ways God was tryingto teach him a lesson becausehe uswd to bave all the answers. But, when tragedy happens he suddenly doesn't have all the answers and he doesnt know how to handle it all.
Renee is stuck in between and isnt sure what to do next. It seems she has moved on but yet not moved on. It seems as if she's waiting on something.
Time heals all wounds but sometimes it doesn't. There are 5 stages of grief but I've forgotten what they are and maybe this family did go through those five stages.
I can relate to this book in many ways because I have lost loved ones too.
I recommend this book very strongly.
This story is in mid western Ohio town in the 1970's. I grew up in this time period and was an instant hit for me. I was 3 in 1970