MashReads Podcast: 'The Sun Is Also A Star' is a beautifully woven YA novel about love

Do you believe in love at first sight?

That is the question posed by The Sun Is Also A Star, the latest novel by New York Times bestselling author Nicola Yoon.

The Sun Is Also A Star follows two strangers, romantic poet Daniel and science whiz Natasha, who have very different opinions on love. When Natasha and Daniel run into each other on a fateful day in New York, Daniel believes he has found "the one" and embarks on a quest to convince Natasha to fall in love with him. The only problem: at the end of the day Natasha is being deported to Jamaica.

This week on the MashReads Podcast, we read and discuss The Sun Is Also A Star with Nicola Yoon herself. Join us as we talk about YA, writing about race and immigration, love at first sight and The Sun Is Also A Star.

And, as always, we close the show with some recommendations:

• Nicola recommends Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi. "It's a middle grade book and it's just beautiful." She also recommends Adam Silvera's upcoming book History Is All You Left Me and A Torch Against The Night by Sabaa Tahir.

• Aliza recommends Delicate Edible Birds by Lauren Groff. "It's a wonderful story collection. My favorite is the first short story, but you should read all of them."

• Peter finally caught up on Donald Glover's show Atlanta. "It's really inventive and creative and fun in a very special way."

• MJ recommends Are You Fucking Kidding Me? an essay from a Hillary Clinton parody collection that imagines what real Hillary Clinton wants to say but cannot. He also recommends The Baby-Sitters Club Club (which was introduced to us by a friend at McNally Jackson this week), a podcast hosted by two guys who absurdly deconstruct each book in the Baby-Sitters Club series.

Next week we are reading To Kill A Mockingbird! We hope you'll join us.

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