The Sun Is Also a Star

Genre:

I chose The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon for the Michael L. Printz Honor Book category.

Target Age Group:

The target age group is 12-17 years.

Summary:

    The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon is a lovely and brilliant novel of happenstance. Two teenagers, Natasha and Daniel, cross paths one day in New York City and their lives are forever changed. Natasha, an undocumented immigrant from Jamaica, and Daniel, a first generation Korean American, meet on a critical day for both of them. Natasha is hoping to not be deported with her family at 10 that evening and Daniel has a college interview for Yale that his parents demand he attend (the interview and the school) to become a doctor. Daniel is a poet and Natasha is a blossoming scientist. With so much resistance from Natasha and unforeseen obstacles, they fall utterly and completely in love. This beautiful development happens in a matter of hours. Hope is the guiding force in this not-to-be-missed incredible young adult novel.

Justification:

    I chose The Sun Is Also a Star because it was a Printz Honor Book and it appeared to be a book about love and hope. After choosing 3 YA titles for this book blog that had complex and heart-wrenching themes, I decided I needed a respite from the literature I was about to read. The story also takes place in New York City and I have been enamored of that city since I was a young girl. I have only been to Manhattan once, about 20 years ago, and to discover a book about love in this great city was a perfect fit for me.

Evaluation:

    For this review I will be evaluating mood, pacing, and setting. The daunting prospects of what the day will bring for Natasha and Daniel set the mood for The Sun Is Also a Star. Both Daniel and Natasha are gravely worried about their own problems but when they meet, the mood is lifted. Its as if Daniel has found his truth and the reluctant, practical Natasha opens her heart and begins to see that falling in love is truly a magical thing. For Natasha, love has created a sense of weightlessness and joyfulness to her life. She had never realized that this kind of passion such as the one she is experiencing with Daniel, takes precedence over her ardent pragmatism.

    The pacing of this magnificent YA novel is measured and deliberate. The chapters are brief in order to give the reader sufficient time to digest the feelings and backstories of not just Natasha and Daniel, but other minor characters that play a major part in the progression of Natasha's and Daniel's one day together. The young adult reader will appreciate the steady pacing of the story because one will be hoping for a positive and satisfying outcome for a love that seems incredulous but so real at the same time.

    The setting of The Sun Is Also a Star is New York City in the present day. Daniel and Natasha start out in different directions around New York City but soon their paths converge into a shared odyssey of hope and love. Riding the subway from downtown Manhattan to Midtown and then as far north as Harlem, Natasha and Daniel maneuver their time together in a creative yet substantive way. The city provides a backdrop as they travel to each place together, whether it's the glass monstrosity of an office building, the wig shop Daniel's father owns in Harlem, or the private room at the norebang (karaoke) bar. Natasha and Daniel make each place they visit a significant one and offers the reader an intimate observation of what New York City can be to a pair of teenagers intent on being each other's destiny. 

Citation:

Yoon, N. (2019). The sun is also a star. Ember Books.