The Sun Is Also a Star

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon is an exhilarating, intellectually ambitious young adult novel that unfolds over a single day in New York City as two teenagers fall in love against the backdrop of an impending deportation — a book that asks the biggest questions about fate, choice, and what connects us to each other with both tenderness and genuine philosophical daring.

About the Book

Natasha Kingsley is a Jamaican-born teenager who arrived in the United States as a young child and has grown up as an undocumented immigrant. She is a pragmatist, a lover of science, and someone who doesn’t believe in fate or romantic love. Today is her last day in America: her family is being deported, and she has only hours left to find some way to stop the process before she loses the country she thinks of as home.

Daniel Bae is the Korean-American son of immigrant parents who own a hair products store in midtown Manhattan. His parents want him to become a doctor; he wants to write poetry. Today he is on his way to a Yale interview that might determine the rest of his life. When Daniel and Natasha collide — literally — on a New York street, he immediately falls for her and bets her that he can make her fall in love with him in twelve hours.

Told in alternating points of view, with occasional interjections from secondary characters and omniscient asides about the histories and inner lives of everyone Natasha and Daniel encounter, The Sun Is Also a Star is formally inventive and emotionally sweeping. Yoon weaves together quantum physics, the history of immigration, the nature of love and identity, and the sheer random contingency of being alive with a confidence that never tips into pretension. It is a book that makes you believe in the significance of ordinary moments.

What Makes It a Meridian Award Winner

The Meridian Award for Young Adult recognizes novels that speak honestly and powerfully to the experience of growing up while achieving real literary distinction. The Sun Is Also a Star succeeds on both counts. Yoon’s treatment of immigration is neither simplistic nor didactic — Natasha’s story illuminates the human cost of immigration policy with specificity and compassion without sacrificing narrative momentum. The novel’s formal inventiveness — its multiple perspectives, its scientific digressions, its structural daring — marks it as a YA novel with genuine ambition. And its central love story is genuinely moving, earned through character rather than plot convenience.

Who Should Read This

The Sun Is Also a Star is perfect for young adult readers, particularly those aged fourteen and up, who are ready for a love story with real intellectual heft. It is an especially important book for teen readers interested in immigration, identity, and what it means to belong somewhere. Adult readers who loved Yoon’s debut Everything, Everything or who enjoy YA fiction that respects its audience’s intelligence will find this an outstanding read. Teachers and librarians looking for books that spark conversations about immigration, fate, and the interconnectedness of lives will find it invaluable in the classroom.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is The Sun Is Also a Star worth reading?

Yes, for readers of all ages who appreciate a love story with something real to say about the world. Nicola Yoon writes with intelligence, warmth, and a genuine sense of wonder about the strange fact of being alive and connected to other people. The Sun Is Also a Star was a National Book Award finalist and a New York Times bestseller, and it fully earns both distinctions. It is the kind of book that reminds you why stories matter.

What genre is The Sun Is Also a Star?

The Sun Is Also a Star is young adult contemporary fiction, combining elements of romance, social realism, and philosophical reflection. It won the 2016 Meridian Award for Young Adult and was also a National Book Award finalist for Young People’s Literature, establishing Nicola Yoon as one of the essential voices in contemporary YA fiction.