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Stargazing by Jen Wang
5.0

This is a sweet, quiet, surprising book. Considering that it just tops 200 pages, it packs more a of punch, and more of a twist ending, than I was expecting. It starts with an orchestral performance at a church, in which Christine plays violin. She tries hard to be everything her parents want: academic, musical, and serious- never painting her nails, taking Chinese language lessons and extra math after school. Then Moon and her mother move into the granny unit behind their house. Moon is a bundle of contradictions: vegetarian, Buddhist, funny, loud, good at drawing, obsessed with K-Pop, uncool but supremely confident. She's less feminine than Christine but she wears nail polish, she watches youtube instead of studying but does well on her tests. She and Christine quickly become best friends, and Moon talks her into signing up for the talent show together. But when other people being to befriend Moon and hang out with her when Christine isn't available, she gets jealous and does something that might sabotage their friendship forever. Will they be able to mend it? And what about the visions Moon sometimes mentions, of celestial beings who say her real home isn't on planet Earth...? I picked up a black and white advanced reader copy of this book at BookExpo 2019. I can't wait to see what it will look like in full color, because the art is already wonderful. While you wait, go pick up any of Jen Wang's earlier books (In Real Life, Koko Be Good, or Eisner nominated The Prince and the Dressmaker) because they are all amazing!