The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

I am swiftly becoming a Nicola Yoon fan. It started when Bella, a student of mine, read Everything Everything. She gave such a compelling book talk that I asked to borrow her copy. I read it in about a night and if I wasn't blown away, I was at least deeply impressed. I made acquiring a copy of Yoon's only other book, The Sun Is Also a Star, a priority.

Well I did it, I found a copy at Half Price Books in Decatur. I read it last night and today and it is clear that Yoon is developing as a writer. Much like her previous book, this is a love story. Daniel, who is first generation born American from Korean parents, is at a weird turning point in his life. His parents want him to be a doctor. Daniel may just want to be a poet. He takes a day to wander around New York City as a last day of freedom/childhood. Natasha is Jamaican. She was born there but her parents immigrated with her illegally when she was eight. The day the book begins is her last day in the US. At 10 P.M. she and her family are being deported. She spends her last day looking for a last chance way to stay. Daniel and Natasha meet, both hurtling toward their individual destinies, but their attraction to each other is immediate and overwhelming.

Daniel and Natasha are a case of opposites attracting that rings true to me, which says something. Usually, I just sort of scoff at those things. While there is a high potential for sap, Yoon manages to avoid nearly all of it. Natasha spends most of the book pushing against this relationship with Daniel. She's smart, into science, and prides herself on her realism. She's also very private with her business, which creates a lot of narrative tension. Daniel ends up being like this being like a large and over exuberant puppy. He's looking for a sign from the universe, Natasha is it, and he's more than happy to fall. Natasha's realism balances Daniel's optimism and vice versa. Even so, it much get to be a bit much except that the almost the entire action of the book happens over the course of one day.

In her previous book, Yoon stuck very close to one point of view. In this book, she preserves that intimate first person narrative, but she alternates between Natasha's point of view and Daniels. Periodically she dials out into a third person omniscient to comment on her two characters or describe the background of one of the several side characters and family members. The result is a complex rube goldberg machine of a plot that demonstrates the interconnectivity in the lives of strangers.

It's interesting and it's sentimental. I think my dad should read it. I enjoyed my read very much and found myself near tears by the end.