The Sun Is Also a Star

In Nicola Yoon’s The Sun is Also a Star, New Yorkers Natasha and Daniel are brought together—and pulled apart—by a series of coincidences. Their views toward their meeting differ: while Natasha is a rationally minded physics enthusiast, Daniel is a poet and a dreamer, and he’s quicker to fall in love and to ascribe their meeting to the work of fate. Whether they’re meant to be or not, though, there’s one big thing getting in their way: on the day of their meeting, Natasha’s family is set to be deported to Jamaica, her birthplace. As they race against the clock, Natasha and Daniel get to know each other and come to understand love, themselves, and each other.

Third-person chapters that offer insight about the universe or give a look at the inner lives of secondary characters intersperse Natasha and Daniel’s first-person perspectives and reflect one of the novel’s greatest strengths: its exploration of the wide range of factors and individuals that come together to make love—and all human connection—possible. Yoon deftly tells the stories of Jamaican and Korean-American characters, displaying their struggles with their families and their identities alongside the miraculous way love comes into their lives.