The Sun is also a Star Book Review

 











The Sun is also a Star

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Yoon, N. (2016). The sun is also a star. Ember. ISBN: 978-0-593-81540-3


2.  PLOT SUMMARY

The Sun is also a Star is about two strangers who end up falling in love in one day. Natasha is facing deportation back to Jamaica and Daniel is facing a future forced by his Korean parents. Fate brings them together and love carries them through the hardships of the day. From Natasha fighting to stay in America to Daniel realizing that he wants to pave his own path career-wise, they depend on each other in ways they never thought possible. 


3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The Sun is also a Star is a contemporary realistic fiction book. The appeal to young adults will be that what-if scenario. The quest for self-identity while also being held back by family expectations is a main theme in this book.  The characters are all identifiable by the audience because they deal with expectations put on you as a young adult and who you want to be. The plot is somewhat believable as it is set in New York and I would imagine teens have more independence than in other cities. It is a stretch for me that the circumstances of the day could all be possible in 12 hours but that’s the appeal of a fictional story. The chapters are told from the point of view mainly of the two main characters, but also minor ones and why they are the way they are. Also, some chapters are an explanation/ definition of a word said in the previous chapter. Natasha and Daniel are opposites as she is a practical thinker and relies on the science of outcomes. Daniel is a hopeless optimist and a poet. They both change throughout the book to ground themselves in their true selves while shedding their former compliant selves. The theme is a coming-of-age story. Both main characters begin as young adults unsure of their future and end as individuals who take control of their futures. 


4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

  • Booklist, 09/15/17

  • Kirkus Reviews, 10/15/17

  • Publishers Weekly, 10/16/17


  • Booklist starred (August 2016 (Vol. 112, No. 22))

  • Grades 8-12. On a summer morning in New York City, Daniel and Natasha wake up as strangers. This is a day that could catapult their lives into entirely new directions that neither of them wants to take. Natasha has only hours left to prevent her family’s deportation to Jamaica, after a minor legal infraction jeopardizes their stay in the U.S. Daniel dreads sealing his fate with an alumni interview that will pave his way to a career in medicine, as his Korean family expects. Despite a day packed with Natasha’s desperate race against time and a tangled system, and Daniel’s difficult tug-of-war between familial pressures and autonomy, love finds a way in, takes hold, and changes them both forever. Yoon’s sophomore effort (Everything, Everything, 2015) is carefully plotted and distinctly narrated in Natasha’s and Daniel’s voices; yet it also allows space for the lives that are swirling around them, from security guards to waitresses to close relatives. It’s lyrical and sweeping, full of hope, heartbreak, fate, and free will. It encompasses the cultural specifics of diverse New York City communities and the universal beating of the human heart. Every day—like every book—begins full of possibility, but this one holds more than others.



  • 5. CONNECTIONS

Reynolds, J. (2020). Opposite of always. Katherine Tegen Books. ISBN: 978-0-06-274838-6

Rivers, K.  (2023). You are the always. Algonquin Young Readers. ISBN: 978-1-61620-986-5

Activities:

Write a chapter from the perspective of a character in the book to continue the story of Natasha

and Daniel


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