A Sky of Paper Stars
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A Sky of Paper Stars is a heartrending middle-grade graphic novel by Susie Yi about a girl’s ill-fated wish to fit in, perfect for readers of Stargazing and Pashmina.
All Yuna wants is to belong. She wants to go to sleepovers, have a smart phone, and go to summer camp—just like her friends in middle school.
Furious at her Umma for never packing her a “normal” American lunch, they get into yet another fight. Out of options and miserable, Yuna remembers a legend that her grandma, Halmoni, told her. If you fold 1,000 paper stars, you will be granted one wish.
When she reaches 1,000 paper stars, Yuna wishes for her family to move back to Korea, where she can finally be normal. Seconds later: a knock at her door. It’s her sister with devastating news. Halmoni has died and they must go back to Korea to attend the funeral.
Yuna knows this is all her fault. As her guilt builds, her body begins to turn into paper. Yuna realizes she must undo her wish and bring her Halmoni back—or turn into paper forever.
Wholly heartbreaking and with light touches of magic realism, A Sky of Paper Stars is a captivating graphic novel about identity, family, and the love that can bridge generations.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A Korean American tween grapples with the ill-fated consequences of a wish in Yi's tear-jerking speculative debut, a graphic novel loosely inspired by her experiences. Yuna wishes she fit in more with her American classmates; worried that eating traditional Korean foods will separate her further from her peers, she throws away the lunches that her mother packs for her. In a flashback rendered in monochromatic blues, Yuna recalls making paper stars with her grandmother, Halmoni, who tells Yuna that if she gathers 1,000 paper stars in a jar, she can make a wish on them that will come true. In full-color present-day, after Yuna finishes making the thousandth star, she wishes for her relatives to go back to Korea so that "our family could be normal." The next day, she learns that Halmoni has died and that Yuna's family must leave for Korea. Believing she caused her grandmother's death, Yuna—who has begun transforming into paper—determines to make another wish to bring Halmoni back. Expressive faces and stout figures paired with a soft color palette economically showcase Yuna's struggle with grief and identity as she learns more about her family's roots in this heartfelt story. An author's note concludes. Ages 8–12.
