Since Valentines Day is around the corner, I thought I would explore two books by Nicola Yoon about profound romances, each of which have captured the hearts of readers across the globe: "Everything Everything" and "The Sun is Also a Star."
An accomplished author, Ms. Yoon was the first African-American woman to hit number one on the New York Times Bestseller List in the young adult category. Both of these novels are single-standing and not part of a series. While I love a great series, I stand-alone novels force themselves to be fully contained, and these two capture this doctrine completely. Both delve deep into human nature and seemingly doomed fates of her characters in ways that have stuck with me quite some time after reading.
"Everything Everything" is a hard-hitting novel about a girl named Maddy who is allergic to the world. Diagnosed with a rare condition called Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, SCID, she’s been condemned to her home since birth. Her days are drab -- until they’re brightened just before her 18th birthday, when a new family moves in next door. Through her bedroom window -- her only connection to the outside world -- she begins a game of silent gazing with a teenage boy, Olly. After Olly leaves his email address taped to his window, these silent moments evolve into a written correspondence. The two message back and forth, sharing their feelings, thoughts, and secrets, possessed with a sense of understanding for one another.
Maddy learns of Olly’s difficult home life, and Olly of Maddy’s disease. Both of them feel trapped in their houses, but being with each other gives them little slivers of freedom. After constant online messaging and shared glances, Maddy convinces her at-home nurse, Carla, to help her sneak Olly into the house. With Carla’s help, Olly and Maddy begin to see each other in person with increasing frequency. The more they get to know each other, the more they fall into love. Eventually, the two are unable to bear their inability to see each other as much as they wish, due to Maddy’s illness. Possessed with a new sense of adventure, they devise a plan to allow Maddy to have a taste of the life she’d always dreamed of, even if that means risking her safety.
During this trip, Maddy learns things about herself and the people she knows that she’d never dreamed of discovering, all while tumbling through a dangerous whirlwind of feeling with her first love.
In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Ms. Yoon describes the novel as “Not so much a book about the disease, but the risks you are willing to take for being in love.” Maddy is the perfect ambassador for this principle, and she is so beautifully written by an author who understands what it is to be willing to take endless risks for love.
"The Sun Is Also a Star" is Ms. Yoon’s second novel, nominated for a National Book Award in 2016. It told from dual perspectives, and focuses on the paths that people take that lead them stumbling into love. It also explores love as a theoretical concept, with one love skeptic, and one believer.
After moving from Jamaica to the States at a young age, Natasha and her family made a life for themselves in New York City. Natasha has a best friend, and attends a prestigious science high school – which reflects in her personality. Every part of her life is explained in a scientific manner, until her methodical existence come crashing down as the threat of deportation looms over her family. Determined to change her family's fate on the day of their deportation, Natasha sets out to do so. Daniel, also a New York City resident, is also about to have his future determined in a way he wishes to fight against.
With a brother who hates him and two overbearing parents, he feels as if his only choice is to do what is expected of him. So he sets off for his interview at Yale, as Natasha walks to the deportation office hoping to get her family’s case appealed. On the way to their respective tasks, their paths cross at a record store, where Natasha sees her ex-boyfriend and Daniel helps her report him for stealing one of the records.
After their brief encounter, Daniel is certain the two of them are meant to be. This theory is further reinforced when their paths cross again, and Daniel and Natasha propose an experiment: Can they make themselves fall in love with one another in 12 hours? The two weave their way into each other's lives, not shying away from their ugly sides, and consider the impact that their single day of interaction will have on their lives as a whole. "The Sun Is Also a Star" is a passionate novel featuring a collision of fate, science, and love at first sight.
Ms. Yoon says this book is based on her experience as a Jamaican-American immigrant, with a Korean-American husband. In an interview with PBS Books, she said “I really wanted to talk about immigration and coming of age when you feel like you exist in the space between.”
The author's impact on so many people's perception of romance and growing up has been substantial. She shows the importance of taking risks for something you're passionate about, and giving love a chance, even against all odds.
As always, feel free to email me at [email protected] with any book recommendations you’d like to see written about! Thank you to my readers for tuning in, and happy reading!