The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Zoboi, Ibi. Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 2022.

Octavia Estelle Butler's biography begins with the story of her mother who was pulled out of school early to begin working when her father died around the beginning of the Great Depression in the 1930s. Octavia was born in 1947 in Los Angeles to her father, a shoeshiner, and her mother, a live-in domestic servant. Her father died in 1951 and she did not know much about his early life before migrating to California. Her mother named her after herself to honor her deep desire to have a child after suffering five miscarriages before Octavia Estelle was born. She chose her middle name, Estelle, to signify "star" and the blessing she brought to her parents.

Octavia grew up in Pasadena in a mixed-race neighborhood without the shadow of Jim Crow that hung over other areas of the United States. She never attended racially segregated schools, and the African-Americans in her neighborhood came primarily from Louisiana and Texas during the Great Migration.

Octavia learned much of her empathy from her friendship with Baba, a cocker spaniel puppy who belonged to the family her mother worked for. She wrote later in her life that her love for Baba helped her to write empathetic characters in her novels and to see the world through the eyes of others.

Octavia was raised in a deeply religious household, and she later moved away from her faith and questioned the world around her. She found more comfort in dreaming of space rather than the ideas of heaven, hell, and the afterlife.

Octavia began reading and writing as a young girl, despite struggling with dyslexia. She felt at home at the local library and loved when her mother brought home books for her. Octavia bought her first books in 1957 about horses and the solar system. Her mother had also given her a pink notebook with blank pages for her to write in. She brought it everywhere with her and daydreamed constantly to keep herself from being bored, as she did not have many friends growing up.

When Octavia's teachers discovered her talent for storytelling, they tried to steer her away from her interest in science fiction for a genre more realistic. She did not listen to them, remaining committed to writing about a potential life beyond the boundaries of Earth.

As Octavia grew up and finished high school, she continued writing and trying to find ways to sell her short stories to magazines with the help of a typewriter purchased by her mother. After college, she attended a screenwriting class designed to diversify the industry and she was encouraged to attend more workshops. In 1971, Octavia sold her first short story when she was 24.

Ibi Zoboi read her first Octavia Butler novel in college and fell in love with her work. She held onto her dreams of becoming an author as well.