Stargazing

I really enjoyed Wang’s “The Prince and the Dressmaker” and was reallly looking forward to this next book. This as a very fun read and I enjoyed it a lot...I didn’t like it quite as much as “The Prince and the Dressmaker”. However, it was still very well done.

When a new girl named Moon

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moves to Christine’s neighborhood, Christine is wary of her because of rumors of Moon’s violent behavior. However, Moon is a lot of things that Christine isn’t...outgoing, artistic, and fun and Christine can’t help but become friends with her and admire her. Then Moon starts having strange visions that end up having a more earthly cause.

I enjoyed this a lot. It’s well illustrated and the story is easy to follow. It has humor and heart and is very engaging. I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as “The Prince and the Dressmaker” (PDM). I just enjoyed the subject matter of PDM more, it was more cute and fun, and felt like that was aimed at an older audience which made me enjoy the story in PDM more.

I do think this is aimed a bit more at girls than boys, but my 12 year old son is planning to read it so I am curious to see how he likes is.

Overall this was a very well done graphic novel about friendship, family, and illness. I didn’t enjoy it as much as Wang’s previous novel because of the subject matter. Still, I think it was incredibly well done and think many will enjoy it a ton.

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Juvenile fiction graphic novel probably suited for middle grades and up. Friendship between two Asian-American girls who are very different in some ways, but become fast friends. They bond when they become neighbors and remain friend even after their friendship is challenged by a serious occurrence.

I absolutely loved this book from beginning to end! Illustrations were awesome as well. This is a story of a new girl who gets befriended by an awkward (but of course!) neighbor/landlord's daughter. A lot of things happen throughout this book that can happen in real life... jealousy, fights, etc.

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Ending was superb and cute. Really good story.

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My expectations were too high going in to this follow-up to Wang's The Prince and the Dressmaker, but it is still a nice, low-key kids book about a Chinese American girl who is struggling to meet her parents' ideas of perfection when a more carefree and outgoing girl with a bad reputation moves in

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next door. Typical friendship and school complications ensue, until a dramatic twist based on the author's own life comes out of nowhere late in the book and rushes us to the ending and what amounts to a closing credits musical number. It would have been better with either a sharper focus or more pages to deal more fully with all the elements introduced.

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Christine works hard to be a good student and a dutiful daughter, but when free-spirited Moon moves into the neighborhood, Christine starts longing to be more creative and artistic like her new friend. However, she also struggles with jealousy as Moon makes other, more popular friends. Can she

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figure out how to be a good friend to Moon, and also express some of her own individuality?

This is a sweet middle-grade friendship story, and there's a big audience for this sort of book right now. I'm sure that this will find its readership among fans of Telgemeier, Hale, Jamieson, and the like.

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Jen Wang is back with another beautiful, bittersweet story of friendship with a touch of fantasy. Wang is really shaping up to be a favorite storyteller/artist of mine.

This is a touching and somewhat sad coming-of-age story that shows the challenges of making new friends in middle school. There’s

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a lot of culture here, revolving around what it means to be Asian, defined by different families and also how to balance that culture with “fitting in” at school. The Asian culture also brings in the slightest fantastical elements as well, if you like a sprinkle of magic in your contemporary reads.

I have a friend who dislikes reading about bullying in middle-grade novels (it’s definitely a bummer) and I want to point out that there’s some light bullying in this book. More so, it tackles the topic of when someone is mean to their friend for the sake of fitting in. That sort of thing really depresses me, because I’m aware it happens only too often, but I love the realism of the story and I love feeling them feels. I wanted to put that out there in case there any of you prefer to avoid this topic.

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Christine’s family rents out the unit behind their house to Yuwen, a struggling single mom, and her daughter Moon. Christine and Moon become friends and Christine notes how unlike Moon is from typical Asian kids. While Christine speaks Chinese and takes Chinese class, Moon cannot speak the

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language. Christine plays violin; Moon is into K-Pop. Christine is cautious; Moon is spontaneous and footloose. Eventually Christine’s jealousy of Moon’s coolness leads to a thoughtless act on her part. Moon’s sudden health crisis brings the girls to an understanding.

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This is cute, and sweet, and has so many aspects that are my kind of thing, that the fact that I got to the end (and it took a while, because I could only read a little bit at at time) and really didn't love it is a bit of a surprise.

It is a lovely graphic story, and if I'd read it in primary

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school I would have adored it. As it was, it is nice.

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The friendship between Christine and Moon is sweet. “Moon is everything Christine isn’t.” Both struggle with their identities and how they fit in in the world, especially the Chinese American community where they live. And then, something happens to Moon...

Short, sweet, and fun to read! And,

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in the 'Afterword', we find that it is semi-autobiographical! I'm glad that I read this!

P.S. - I still don’t understand K-pop...

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I admit it: I cried.

I want to be Moon's friend. This character was great to read and I really enjoyed her fearlessness, and ability to just be herself regardless of what others thought. This story was cute, heartfelt, and relatable. I can remember as a kid trying to find my identity and place amongst the group of kids

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I was friends with and I wish someone gave me this book, especially in the years of middle and high-school.

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This was a very sweet, beautifully drawn story about friendship. I thought it explored the tangled issues of admiration and jealousy in young friendship very accurately.

This feels very much like the story of a realistic fiction ya novel, focusing on relationships, trauma and the response to it, and so on. I still like Wang's art style, but I find it not as suited to this sort or realistic story than to the delightful confection of fairy tale and gender exploration

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that is The Prince and the Dressmaker. Not a bad job of what it is, but not really my kind of thing.

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Christine is warned that Moon is a trouble-making child, but when Moon and her mother move next door to Christine's family, the two become friends. But can these two unlikely friends stay friends when not everything is as rosy as it seems?

This was an engaging book and it definitely had its moments.

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The friendship depicted between the two girls was refreshing; they had different interests but they also found commonalities where they could embrace one another. Their differences also rubbed off on each other, allowing each to be a more well-rounded person.

There were moments that were less stellar in the book, like when homelessness is briefly addressed but not really explored well. In general, it felt like this book was trying to follow too many threads at once and some of them ended up getting kind of lost.

That being said, it was still a very interesting read and even more so when I noticed the author's note at the back about how the book was semi-autobiographical in parts. I also appreciated that the majority of the characters are Asian-American, as we need more and more diversity in children's literature, especially in graphic novels.

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diverse children's middlegrade graphic novel (Chinese-American girl makes friends with girl who is "different," makes mistakes to spoil friendship, makes up, gains understanding).

Artwork has tons of kid appeal, and the story/characters are layered and complex--perfect middlegrade graphic for kids

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who can't get enough graphics.

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Not just charming, but emotionally and socially profound without ever seeming to be so. It's astounding how many social themes Wang covers with the warm and colorful patchwork quilt of the story--like a cat rolled up underneath, unless you're looking out for them you probably won't even notice

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they're there until you sit on them. And sit on them you should--this is a definite read-it-twice, not just for the art but also for the nostalgic (and less-than-nostalgic) reminder of the simultaneously simple and complicated world of friendships and family relationships at the end of childhood. This book is probably a keeper for me--which is both good and bad, since my graphic novel shelf is now officially overflowing.

If This Was Our Pact and Stargazing are both nominated for Goodreads choice awards (as they should be!) I have no idea what I'm going to do!

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Christine doesn't quite know what to think when her parents offer to rent the apartment on their property to Moon and her mother. Christine and Moon become fast friends, with Moon being so many things Christine is not and vice versa. The girls decide to do the talent show together, dancing to

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K-Pop. Moon thinks she is from the stars when it turns out she has a brain tumor growing giving her seizures. Their friendship has growing pains.
A quick read graphic novel with colorful art.

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Wang wrote the fantastic The Prince and the Dressmaker, a comic with a wonderful message about acceptance and love, and so I was looking forward to this one, which seemed less fairytale-like with its cover of two young girls sitting together.

But similar to The Prince and the Dressmaker, this is a

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story about an unlikely friendship.

Moon Lim and her mother move into the granny flat behind Christine’s house, after Christine’s parents offer it to the struggling widow and her child. Christine isn’t sure about Moon at first, she’s rumoured to be free with her fists, she’s impulsive and rambunctious, while Christine is reserved and obedient, trying hard to please her parents. But they soon share a love for dancing to K-pop music and plan to join the school’s talent show.

Moon has a secret though, she sometimes sees celestial beings who want them to join her, so she says. Christine eventually learns what the reason behind that is. And that kind of surprised me, but later, when I read the author’s note about her own background, it made a lot of sense.

I really liked how Wang showed the diversity among the Chinese-American community. Christine’s family is what you would consider more typically Asian – hardworking, studious, plays the violin, attends Chinese school, strict parents, that kind of thing. Moon is more of a free spirit, she doesn’t know much (if any) Chinese, she’s vegetarian, and more drawn to the arts.

Stargazing is a great comic for kids but I think adults will like this one too. I definitely did.

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This reminds me (and a lot of people) of Smile -- which is great! Love Telgemaier's books, love that Jen Wang is also extremely talented at telling a story based off her own experiences as a child. I particularly enjoy the friendship dynamics that Christine and Moon negotiate, and I love that it is

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so firmly grounded in a particular kind of American culture -- that of a Chinese speaking, church going family, with new Buddhist friends. Twist was unexpected, behavior of the kids is heartwarming.

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Unexpectedly charming. The plot took turns and made me feel things when I had settled down for an easy book about making friends. Ending was not strong tho.