During Y'allFest 2016, I had the opportunity to meet Nicola Yoon (not that she'd remember me, she undoubtedly made a bigger impression on me than I did on her.) Shortly thereafter, I was able to snag a ebbed copy of her TheSun is Also a Star from my fabulous Charleston County Public Library, and fell into that segment of the world that loved the book, enough so that when Blogging for Books offered it, I said yes. I rarely reread books within in a year, let alone within months of the initial cracking of covers, but this is one case, perhaps the only, where I reread it within months. My first read was one of those wild "I can't put this book down and need to see what happens" gallops, so my second was a more leisurely revisit, a wandering through the remarkable prose and the New York Day of Natasha and Daniel.
The publisher's blurb actually didn't win me. It was hearing the attendees at Y'allFest that got me to pick the book up. I was intrigued to see how Yoon handled the concept: Two teenagers, with nothing in common except the city they live meet and fall in love on the day one of them is being deported back to Jamaica. Told from alternating viewpoints, the story is endearing, thoughtful, informative, and a very special gift to readers.
I also am fascinated by the cover, so did a bit of research on it. The jacket art is by Dominique Falla, design by Elaine C Damasco. As anyone who has ever done this type of art knows, this in an amazing work and I remain in awe of Dominique Falla's skill as a tactile typographer and string artist. Even had I not felt the way I do about the book, as a lover of art, the book would have grabbed the art lover in me.
Thank you to Blogging for Books, Delacorte Press, Random House Books, Dominique Falla, and of course Nicola Yoon, for bringing this book to me.
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