Stargazing / Jen Wang ; color by Lark Pien.

Title :

Stargazing

Author:

Wang, Jen, 1984-

Format:

Books

Summary:

"Moon is everything Christine isn't. She's confident, impulsive, artistic . . . and though they both grew up in the same Chinese-American suburb, Moon is somehow unlike anyone Christine has ever known. When Moon's family moves in next door to Christine's, Moon goes from unlikely friend to best friend--maybe even the perfect friend. The girls share their favorite music videos, paint their toenails when Christine's strict parents aren't around, and make plans to enter the school talent show together. Moon even tells Christine her deepest secret: that she sometimes has visions of celestial beings who speak to her from the stars. Who reassure her that earth isn't where she really belongs. But when they're least expecting it, catastrophe strikes. After relying on Moon for everything, can Christine find it in herself to be the friend Moon needs?

Language:

English

ISBN - ISSN:

9781250183880

9781250183873

1250183871

Physical Description:

208 pages : color illustrations ; 21 cm

First Title value, for Searching:

Stargazing / Jen Wang ; color by Lark Pien.

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Library	Audience	Home Location	Material Type	Shelf Number	Status
Searching... Central	Kid/Juvenile	Graphic novels	Kids book	741.5 S	Searching... Unknown
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Summary

Stargazing is a heartwarming middle-grade graphic novel in the spirit of Frizzy and Mexikid , from New York Times bestselling author-illustrator Jen Wang.

Moon is everything Christine isn't. She's confident, impulsive, artistic . . . and though they both grew up in the same Chinese-American suburb, Moon is somehow unlike anyone Christine has ever known.

But after Moon moves in next door, these unlikely friends are soon best friends, sharing their favorite music videos and painting their toenails when Christine's strict parents aren't around. Moon even tells Christine her deepest secret: that she has visions, sometimes, of celestial beings who speak to her from the stars. Who reassure her that earth isn't where she really belongs.

Moon's visions have an all-too-earthly root, however, and soon Christine's best friend is in the hospital, fighting for her life. Can Christine be the friend Moon needs, now, when the sky is falling?

Jen Wang draws on her childhood to paint a deeply personal yet wholly relatable friendship story that's at turns joyful, heart-wrenching, and full of hope.

Author Notes

Jen Wang is the award-winning NYT Bestselling author and illustrator of several graphic novels for young readers including Ash's Cabin , Stargazing, The Prince and The Dressmaker, In Real Life (co-written with Cory Doctorow), and Koko Be Good. Jen's honors include two Eisner Awards, the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association Children's Literature Award, and the Fauve d'Angoulême Youth Award. She is based in Los Angeles and is a co-founder and organizer for Comic Arts LA.

Reviews (5)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 3--6--With her surreal drawings, her penchant for bright nail polish, her lax study habits, and her inability to speak Chinese, Moon Li is nothing like the other kids in her Chinese American community. And she couldn't be more different from perfectionist Christine Hong. But when Christine's parents rent a property to Moon and her mother, who are having trouble making ends meet, it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Free-spirited Moon fascinates Christine. However, when Moon tells Christine that she has visions of celestial beings who will one day take her with them to the skies, where she'll finally fit in, Christine realizes that her new pal's confidence masks pain. And when Moon starts to connect with other classmates, Christine's own insecurities threaten their bond. Relying on a muted palette and careful linework, Eisner Award nominee Wang has crafted an understated, poignant tale of the joy and turmoil of budding friendship. She artfully laces her narrative with questions about identity as Christine and Moon quietly wonder about what it means to belong to a community. Though Wang doesn't provide pat answers, her characters do manage to carve out a place for themselves. VERDICT With this spot-on glimpse into the emotional landscape of tweens, Wang joins the ranks of middle grade masters Shannon Hale, Raina Telgemeier, and Cece Bell.--Mahnaz Dar, School Library Journal

Publisher's Weekly Review

This contemporary graphic novel from Wang (The Prince and the Dressmaker) thrums with the quiet dramas of friendship and family, and showcases the diversity of the Chinese-American experience. When single mother YuWen Lin and her brash daughter Moon move into the Hongs' extra unit, Christine Hong isn't sure what to make of the new girl, a Buddhist vegetarian who loves to dance to K-pop, settles conflicts with her fists, and even confides that she belongs among the stars. Despite initially dismissing Moon as "not Asian," Christine swiftly discovers a best friend in the girl, who expands her horizons beyond violin, Chinese lessons, American pop, and her more traditional Chinese household. When calamity hurtles into their lives, Christine must scrutinize her conflicted feelings about navigating tensions friendly and familial. Wang's art is as expressive and fluid as ever, ripe with playful detail-from a Jeremy Lin simulacrum named Joseph Chu to generation-bridging references such as Sailor Moon and Pokémon-and the muted color palette, contributed by colorist Lark Pien, casts the book in a nostalgic glow. Plumbing the depths of Wang's childhood for inspiration, this rich, heart-filled narrative will resonate with any reader who has ever felt different within their community. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8-12. Agent: Judy Hansen, Hansen Literary Agency. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Horn Book Review

In Wangs (The Prince and the Dressmaker, rev. 3/18) middle-grade graphic novel, Christine follows the rules and tries to live up to her strict Chinese-immigrant parents expectations. When a new girlunconventional, self-confident, uninhibited Moonand her single mom move into Christines familys in-law apartment, life gets more interesting: Christine learns some dance moves for the school talent show, lets Moon paint her toenails (her parents disapprove of nail polish), and tries new foods. Cracks appear in the girls close friendshipespecially when Moon and another classmate become friends, causing a jealous Christine to act like not a good frienduntil a medical catastrophe befalls Moon. Family and friendship dynamics are portrayed honestly and realistically (Christine standing up to her father: You want everyone to be perfect! Especially me!), but the focus of the story is kept tightly on the two main characters. Panels in a variety of shapes and sizes and a judicious use of white space pace the graphic novel effectively. A natural for fans of Raina Telgemeier, Jennifer L. Holm, and Victoria Jamieson. Martha V. Parravano January/February 2020 p.98(c) Copyright 2020. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

Friendships can be complicatedsometimes in the best way possible.Following The Prince and the Dressmaker (2018), Wang takes bits of inspiration from her own life in her new graphic novel. Christine is a Chinese American girl living in an Asian suburb who's focused on her music and grade school work. Change comes when her parents offer the in-law apartment her grandpa used to live in to a struggling Chinese American mother and child from church, encouraging Christine to befriend Moon, the daughter. The only thing is, they are complete opposites. Moon is vegetarian, rumored not afraid to use her fists, does not attend Chinese class, and certainly is "not Asian" according to Christine's standards. Despite all that, the two become fast friends, stretching each other's interests with K-pop, art, and the like. Moon later shares a deep secret with Christine: She receives visions from celestial beings that tell her she belongs with them. Trouble soon follows, with struggles with jealousy, social expectations, and devastating medical news for Moon. Wang is a master storyteller, knowing when to quietly place panels between each moment to sharpen the emotional impact or to fill it with life. It is so very rare and refreshing to see diversity within the Asian American community authentically portrayed; Wang allows each character complete ownership of their identity, freeing their truths and, in the process, allowing readers to do the same.A shining gem of a book. (author's note) (Graphic novel. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

The author-artist behind the award-winning Prince and the Dressmaker (2018) turns to middle grade in this exceptional friendship story. Initially, Christine isn't so sure about Moon and her mother, who just moved into the extra unit at Christine's family's house. Moon is loud, artistic, and confident, and she doesn't live under the same kind of rules as Christine does in her own Chinese American family. But despite these differences, they're soon spending nearly all their time together. Then trouble arises: Christine feels pressure from her baba to spend more time on her schoolwork than with her new friend, and Moon's popularity with their classmates starts to make Christine feel jealous. But when Moon's artistic thinking turns out to be more than just freewheeling creativity, Christine realizes how important Moon is to her. Wang masterfully communicates the majority of these emotional turns with marvelously expressive faces and body language, rendered in just a few careful brushstrokes. Pien's warm colors add great dimension to Wang's figures, which are refreshingly varied in terms of body shape and size, and Moon and Christine's lively doodles and drawings add playful insight into their characters. Wang tells a story that will ring true to just about any middle-schooler who's dealt with shifting friendships, but her additional insights into navigating differences within the Chinese American community will be a balm to readers in similar situations.--Sarah Hunter Copyright 2019 Booklist