Stella’s Stellar Hair

K-Gr 2–Stella, a young Afro-Latina, wakes up and is perturbed that her hair is not the way she wants it to be for the “Big Star Little Gala.” She runs to her mother to fix her hair but is not pleased; her mother suggests visits to her aunts, who may have different answers. Stella uses her hoverboard to navigate visiting the planets where her aunts live: Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and more. Every aunt has a distinct recommendation, but Stella remains unhappy and questing; she then creates her own hairstyle in a combination of all the suggestions. This joyful fantasy is more about persistence and individuality than it is about hair, and young readers will love the trip through the solar system. The back matter explains the connection between the hairstyles and the planets, in a fanciful blending of facts and speculation.