If you’re anything like me, you’re probably already super
excited for the movie Everything, Everything based on the novel by Nicola Yoon coming out on May 19th.
But hello, that’s two whole weeks
away! If you need something to make that time go a little faster, do yourself a
favor and check out Nicola Yoon’s other fabulous book The Sun is Also a Star.
Natasha is a science nerd, and hard core grunge rock fan,
who will be deported back to Jamaica in 12 hours. All of the careful plans
she’s made for herself are about to be radically disrupted. Daniel on the other hand, has just been going
through the motions. He walks the path his parents have mapped out for him and
isn’t excited about any of it. The two
meet on a chance encounter, and spend the day talking about everything that
matters: life, love, and the universe on the Day that Changes Everything.
It’s ultra-romantic of course, but what I find most
impressive is the way Nicola Yoon thoughtfully explores racial and cultural
differences. She herself is a Jamaican American, married to a Korean American
man, both of whom are the children of immigrants. So when the characters in the
novel have conversations about race, food, and hair, those discussions are
nuanced, well informed and authentic.
I give it the Milan Seal of Approval, but more importantly,
it’s also a 2017 Coretta Scott King winner, #1 New York Times Bestseller,
2016 National Book Award Finalist, and those are just the honors I feel
like mentioning right now. I just finished it yesterday—it is the greatest. The
end.