No Star Nights

I stumbled upon this little gem in a dollar bin. The title caught my eye because I grew up in a steel valley just outside of Pittsburgh in the 80's as many of the mills were closing. I saw first hand the devastation the closing of the steel mills had on the local economy. Those old mills sat empty and abandoned, a skeletal reminder of what they were. Later, after I grew up and moved out of state, they were bulldozed, demolished, gone, replaced with new malls, resturants and modern businesses. There remains no physical evidence of the numerous steel mills that made the steel that helped build our country. However, the mill across the river from us kept the Coke portion of their mill opened. I remember having a love/hate relationship with the mill because it's lights were so beautiful at night, but it was such a scourge on the landscape in the stark daylight. I remember the smog, and the coal dust, the dust that would make my feet so black after playing barefoot in the yard. I remember how frustrated I was after I received a telescope for Christmas and couldn't see the stars! So when I saw this book, "No Star Nights" with it's smoky illustrations, I had to have it. As a teacher in West Virginia, I have tried to explain to my rural West Virginia students what it was like for me to grow up in Pittsburgh. This book explains beautifully the words I stumbled over and the images I struggled to share. From an educational standpoint, this ties in well with our unit on West Virginia because we discuss what happens to the coal mined in WV, and the author is from West Virginia and the story takes place in Weirton, WV. We discuss how many people left West Virginia to work in other states, like my own great grandparents, and we tie it in with our West Virginia state songs. This book is a treasure for me to share with my students and my own children and recalls an important piece of history that has many lessons to teach.

This is a story of a girl growing up in the shadow of a great steel mill in West Virginia in the late 40s or 50s. While, I could see this book being nostalgic for those who grew up or heard stories of those growing up in similar situations, I think it's a valuable book for all children. It paints a picture of mid-20th century life in an industrial town. Children will be intrigued by the thought of "no star nights" where the sky glowed red from the furnaces. And the wind swirling bits of graphite about in the air that stung the girls' bare legs are recess. The brief look into the mill from the bridge that passes though will also fascinate. And they will relate to the little girls pretending the crane was a big beast chasing them as they ran screaming home. The story is snapshot-like in general, with 2-4 pages focusing on one "scene" before moving onto the next. This is a wonderful technique for capturing a way of life. The illustrations are wonderful. Very realistic in style, but many of them painted with a bit of a hazy overcast, which really captures the feel of "living in a whirling world of smoke." I would definitely recommend this book as a valuable tool to help a child understand life in an industrial/factory town, and to some extent life in the middle of the 20th century in general.

I agree with the "Strong regional appeal" reviewer but think the book deserves five stars. After reading books to my daughter for six years, I keep coming back to No Star Nights as the best evocation of a place now forever changed, a way of life virtually erased from the American landscape. Anna Egan Smucker's writing is spare but rich. Every image rings true. The pictures capture the atmosphere of a steel town beautifully but do not make it pretty. This is a powerful, graceful book.