Stardust Hotel Author:Paul B. Janeczko Grade 7-12-Bittersweet lyrics that ring true to the voice of a sensitive teenager awakening to the complexities of life. These 30 poems are written from the point of view of the son of now-grown flower children who own the Stardust Hotel (the "H" came off when his father swung on it on the day of Leary's birth 14 years earlier). Th... more »e verses describe the tenants of the hotel, as well as the boy's parents, friends, and neighbors, forming a mixture of ordinary people and extraordinary characters. Leary comes to know the undertaker who loves to go out dancing; the lady barber who fixes her '57 Chevy as a hobby; and "The Prince of the Dump" who salvages treasures. Also, Leary describes playing ball, the restitution of a bully, taking a dare to kiss an angel headstone, and other more typically youthful activities. As in the author's Brickyard Summer (Orchard, 1989), this volume provides brief, careful portraits of individuals in a small community. Like Cynthia Rylant and Mel Glenn's poems for YAs, Janeczko's pieces invite young writers to try their hands at describing people they know.« less