The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon is magical. I haven't enjoyed a YA novel this much since my first reads of Sarah Dessen's Just Listen and Dreamland. Natasha and Daniel meet each other on a singular day in each of their lives. We learn about them as we learn about the people around them. It is a multiple POV book done exceptionally well.  The characters are funny, but real. 

This book tackles what I see as two big issues. The first is that it's hard to be a child of immigrants in the United States. There are pressures put on you from all sides that non-immigrant children don't deal with - fitting in culturally in multiple cultures and responsibility placed on your shoulders from parents who really want what's best for you, but may not agree on what "best" is - and this book tackles this topic with both of our characters.  The other issue is that racism is alive and well and not just racism that involves white people. Daniel's Korean family has issues with him dating a black girl and Natasha's family doesn't know exactly what to do with Daniel.  It delves into racism in an interesting, nuanced way that felt like a lived world.

The major criticism I have of this book is that it really is a love at first sight book. If you are not a fan of the overly romantic version of love that says you will fall in love with someone if you ask them some questions, you might not find yourself loving this book as much as I did.  However, the book actually grapples with the very question of whether or not instalove is real or even healthy through the thoughts of Natasha, a scientifically-minded soul whose parents have a relatively unhappy marriage despite love at first sight, so I don't actually feel like this portion of the novel was hand waving over the fact that real relationships are not formed in  ten hours.

So, this is a strong thumbs up from me.