Berkeley Heights Public Library

The Sun is Also a Star.

by Yoon, Nicola

Horn Book Natasha, an undocumented immigrant from Jamaica facing immediate deportation, believes in science and rationality. Daniel, burdened with his Korean-immigrant parents' expectations, believes in destiny and poetry. When their paths cross unexpectedly, and repeatedly, over one day, Daniel is convinced he's going to fall in love. In a twelve-hour race against the clock, the teens' alternating first-person narratives are fresh and compelling. (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

School Library Journal Gr 9 Up-Two lives are changed forever when Natasha, an undocumented Jamaican teen seeking legal help on her last day in the country before she and her family are deported, and Daniel, a budding Korean American poet on his way to a Yale admissions interview and a future he doesn't want as a doctor, meet on the bustling streets of New York City. Daniel knows it's fate and sets out to convince the practical and scientific Natasha that they are "meant to be." Over the course of the day, they debate love and destiny, but neither can deny the connection between them, nor that time is not on their side. The superb Printz Honor title is brought to life by dual narrators Bahni Turpin and Raymond Lee, with occasional sections performed by Dominic Hoffman. Turpin and Lee fully express the emotions of the two teens as they fall in love, and they also provide performances for the parents, who play integral roles in the protagonists' lives. This story belongs to Natasha and Daniel, and Turpin and Lee. The narrators do a stellar job of conveying the characters' individual and interwoven journeys. Part coming-of-age, part romance, and all extraordinary. VERDICT Charming and sensitive, an ideal choice for today's teens. ["This wistful love story will be adored by fans of Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park and by those who enjoyed the unique narrative structure of A.S. King's Please Ignore Vera Dietz": SLJ 8/16 review of the Delacorte book.]-Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, IL © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Natasha and Daniel meet, get existential, and fall in love during 12 intense hours in New York City.Natasha believes in science and facts, things she can quantify. Fact: undocumented immigrants in the U.S., her family is being deported to Jamaica in a matter of hours. Daniels a poet who believes in love, something that cant be explained. Fact: his parents, Korean immigrants, expect him to attend an Ivy League school and become an M.D. When Natasha and Daniel meet, Natashas understandably distractedand doesnt want to be distracted by Daniel. Daniel feels what in Japanese is called koi no yokan, the feeling when you meet someone that youre going to fall in love with them. The narrative alternates between the pair, their first-person accounts punctuated by musings that include compelling character histories. Danielsure theyre meant to beis determined to get Natasha to fall in love with him (using a scientific list). Meanwhile, Natasha desperately attempts to forestall her familys deportation and, despite herself, begins to fall for sweet, disarmingly earnest Daniel. This could be a sappy, saccharine story of love conquering all, but Yoons lush prose chronicles an authentic romance thats also a meditation on family, immigration, and fate. With appeal to cynics and romantics alike, this profound exploration of life and love tempers harsh realities with the beauty of hope in a way that is both deeply moving and satisfying. (Fiction. 14 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Publishers Weekly Natasha is 17 and an undocumented immigrant from Jamaica who came to the U.S. as a young child. Her family is to be deported at midnight, but she makes a desperate, last-chance effort to talk to an immigration lawyer in Manhattan. Daniel is a Korean-American whose parents insist he go to Yale and become a doctor even though he loves writing poetry and wants the freedom to figure out his own life path. He is unenthusiastically heading to Manhattan for his Yale interview. When the two meet by chance, they end up having a day full of deep conversations. Turpin and Lee both give award-worthy performances. Both completely inhabit their roles in an absolutely natural and authentic way: we feel that Natasha and Daniel are talking to us directly in their own unique voices, sharing their personal stories, feelings, and frustrations in alternating chapters. Both readers are deft with accents, too, whether it's the Korean accents of Daniel's parents or the Jamaican dialect of Natasha's. The voices of the characters will ring in listeners' minds long after the book is completed. Ages 12-up. A Delacorte hardcover. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly Is it fate or chance that brings people together? This is the question posed in this impressively multilayered tale of a one-day romance featuring practical Natasha, whose family is facing deportation to Jamaica, and Daniel, a first-generation Korean American with a poet's sensibility. The teens' eventful day begins at a New York City record store, where they see someone shoplifting. It's the first of many significant moments that occur as Natasha desperately seeks aid to stay in America and Daniel prepares for a college interview with a Yale alum. Drawn together, separated, and converging again, both teens recognize with startling clarity that they are falling in love. With a keen eye for detail and a deep understanding of every character she introduces, Yoon (Everything, Everything) weaves an intricate web of threads connecting strangers as she delves into the personal histories of her protagonists, as well as the emotions and conflicts of others who cross their paths. A moving and suspenseful portrayal of a fleeting relationship. Ages 12-up. Agent: Sara Shandler and Joelle Hobeika, Alloy Entertainment. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Book list *Starred Review* 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. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Yoon's debut became a best-seller, so the publisher is giving this a strong push that includes a national author tour.--Booth, Heather Copyright 2016 Booklist

School Library Journal Gr 8 Up-It is Natasha's last day in New York City, where she has lived for 10 years. Her family, living as undocumented immigrants in a small Brooklyn apartment, are being deported to Jamaica after her father's arrest for drunk driving. Natasha is scouring the city for a chance to stay in the United States legally. She wants the normal teen existence of her peers. Meanwhile, poetic Daniel is on his way to an interview as part of his application process to Yale. He is under great pressure to get in because his parents (who emigrated from South Korea) are adamant that he become a doctor. Events slowly conspire to bring the two leads together. When Daniel and Natasha finally meet, he falls in love immediately and convinces her to join him for the day. They tell their stories in alternating chapters. Additional voices are integrated into the book as characters interact with them. Both relatable and profound, the bittersweet ending conveys a sense of hopefulness that will resonate with teens. VERDICT This wistful love story will be adored by fans of Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park and by those who enjoyed the unique narrative structure of A.S. King's Please Ignore Vera Dietz.-Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Back